The Prince and the Pirate
by kendraleaanne
Summary: Sea Captain with a past meets Prince confined to his future in a fun, fluffy klance fic that stemmed from a random dialogue prompt. Lance, Pidge and Hunk are crew to the marvel that is Blue, Lance's ship. While following his own leads alone, Keith ends up a damsel in need of rescue which Lance is more than happy to lend a helping hand.
1. Chapter 1: The Prince and the Pirate

~So this is my first contribution the Voltron fandom and I hope y'all like it. Mostly fluffy dribble I wrote to satisfy my own thirst for more klance that I hope y'all like! ~

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"You make a pretty terrible captain." Keith's tone was bored, borderline antagonistic as he watched the smooth surface of the alien lilac oceans of Mizga swirl aimlessly from where he leaned over the side of the boat on his elbows, solidifying his urge to get the hell off this planet and away from this insane ship.

"At least I have a ship. You're a prince and haven't got a square foot of land to rule." The captain that saved him retorted smugly as the Altean features of his face twisted to show his outward lack of faith in Keith's proclamation of royalty.

The response was immediate and heated as he turned to face even further away from the deeply tanned, deeply irritating man, "For the last time, I do have land to rule! A whole planet! It's not my fault you don't keep up with intergalactic affairs."

Leaning against the wheel of his ship on his elbow lazily, Lance's head tilted curiously to take his newest stowaway in, the heavy gold of his earrings tugging at his lobe just lightly as the ship rocked a few meters over the surface of the water. The sea captain had been on his way off the planet when Space Prince hurdled into the water unconscious after a very high-key explosion sounded through the thick atmosphere that blanketed the whole planet.

You wouldn't guess it from his whole entire demeanor but without Lance's split-second decision and impressive swimming skills, Keith would have been lost to the strange behaving water. Mizga's seas were safe as long as you stayed above the surface of the water but the instant the surface tension was broken, the lilac water pulled anything and everything below in random whirlpools that set off a chain reaction of connecting pools across the entire planet with swirling death whirls.

"What's the name of your planet, Mullet Prince? I do a good bit of travelling in my line of work and I might have heard of it." He was trying to keep from laughing outright at the culmination of emotions being displayed on his damsel's face. Thick brows furrowed deeply, lip twitching in flashes of a sneer every now and then and even the way his shoulders were trying to curve even further as he crossed his arms over his chest. Lance knew he was Galra and he had no real doubts that this ball of tense respect was a royal which meant he only had about hundreds of planets to choose to rule over. He just liked riling the handsome man up.

Keith could hear the mocking in his voice and resisted the urge to throw himself back into the water and away from this ship. He had only been traveling with the captain for a few hours but the carefree, devil-may-care attitude of the younger man was grating on his nerves. He was pretty sure underneath all the lame jokes and bad pick-up lines held an equally as pointless and idiotic personality he just didn't want to be in the proximity off. You are only as powerful as the people you surround yourself with, that's what their father always said and this boy was not powerful. Cute but not powerful. Of course Shiro beat into his head that 'patience yields focus' but right now? He severely lacked both. Half of him fought the urge to stay quiet and not let this strange person know where he lived but unfortunately, the route his brain took was a much more aggressive and abrasive one. "What makes you think you've been there? You didn't have any idea who I was until your man in the crow's nest pointed out that I was Galran and I told you who I was." What Keith couldn't understand was why an Altean was all the way on Mizga and not in Altea. Their species as a whole had a tendency to keep to themselves which only made the still budding relations between their people even more challenging.

Maybe that's where all his irritation was stemming from. Misplaced anger.

Keith watched as Lance narrowed his eyes and grew haughty, flicking an errant brunette curl from his face as he spoke, "You think I'm the one who needs to-"

Just as quickly as the heat came, it abandoned the swirling blue of his irises in favor of a flirtatious, almost bubbly grin. The prince would never admit this out loud but his smile was downright _beautiful_. He had to shake his head from the thought, sending his long braid whipping behind him before the eccentric captain's voice sounded again.

"Don't worry your pretty Galra head, Prince Keith, we are on course to leave the planet and you'll be back to your duties before you know it." The carefree look on his face and near flippant tone only spurred the royals aggravation more as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. Unfortunately for him, when he turned his head away from the handsome pirate to hide his rapidly heating cheeks, Lance had already crossed the deck and very easily entered his personal space, the reflection of the purple water glinting off his eyes and making his altean marks glimmer just enough to catch his attention and draw his gaze into Lance's eyes.

Then again, maybe his annoyance was just from Lance after all.

Keith was pretty sure he was having a heart attack thanks to this gorgeous Altean pirate so in favor of not turning into a tomato at the sudden proximity, as in so close Keith was mildly horrified hoping the thing poking his hip was the captain's sword hilt and then doubly horrified with his _own_ thoughts as disappointment started to set in when he realized it was actually his sword, he shoved passed the seafarer enough their shoulders connected in a casual brush, to find somewhere quiet and peaceful and away from Lance so he could put his resolve back together.

On the other hand, Lance was beyond psyched to see the little Galra prince ruffled enough to not only blush redder than the red fires of Arcturus but actually flee from him. With his hand confidently on his hip, he watched to see where Keith would go, giving him silent commendation for heading toward the galley, before heading back to navigation panel and calling Pidge down from the Nest. While he was a huge fan of messing with random pickups, he had a ship to captain and a job to finish.

It took his navigator and resident tech guru all but three seconds to grapple down to where he was, the hook of her gun barely skimming over the top his head of curly brunette hair before the heels of her boots connected with his chest and sent him flying backwards against the hip high wall behind them, Pidge landing in a graceful perfect crouch just in front of where he landed on his ass in a heap.

Rubbing the pain from the back of his head where it connected to the rail, he leaned forward on his knees and spoke with laughter in his voice, "I think that's a new record for you. Landing could use a little work though."

Her response was near as instant as her hook returning to the custom pistol in her hand. Pushing her glasses up casually as she fiddled with the release, "I've put you on your ass harder than that before. Or have you gone soft already, lover boy?" Her brow raised as if to emphasize her little jab at his admittedly flirtatious personality towards royalty of all people.

Rolling his eyes with that ever present smile on his face, he made his way back to the map, giving his navigator's shoulder a friendly squeeze before putting his hand to his chin in thought. The other of his hands was idly playing with one of the many baubles hanging from his pointed ears as his voice grew measured and more serious, "We'll be arriving to port before the second moon flashes. The real problem will be getting our ship _off_ planet without them boarding to search us."

With a bored tone and borderline belligerent self-satisfaction, the smallest of his crew offered a solution to their problem. "Say, isn't Mizga under Galran protection? Wouldn't the prince of the whole Galra Empire be able to get us off this planet?"

Unperturbed by her sarcasm, Lance put the flats of his hands on either side of their holomap and spoke with a casual nature that made Pidge believe she could totally leave him to his thinking and get to mess with the new tech they just picked up from the rebels on this planet without her captain even knowing. Win-win for both. "No good. Few ports have actual Galra stationed there and even fewer of those actually listen to them. Mizga was one of the few planets left after the war that wanted completely left alone and they could manage it. They're a totally self-sufficient society but thanks to the furry idiots in charge of the Galra, everything save the alliance with Altea is falling to the wayside and they are damaging other relationships because of that blatant favoring. The only reason the Mizgardians haven't done anything more serious is a lack of military strength to back them up."

Pidge started slowly backing away from the captain as quietly as she could, emanating her favorite tip-toeing detective team as Lance continued his musings to himself.

"They could try an embargo. Cut off all exportation and close the ports but even Mizgardians aren't dumb enough to piss off the rest of their trade partners…"

She was almost to the point where she had a free shot straight back to her Nest when the Altean's back straightened abruptly, exclaiming, "Hah! That'll work perfectly," and grabbing his feathery captains hat and deep blue jacket to rush off to find Hunk, completely forgetting he even started the conversation with Pidge.

Pidge just shook her head with a light chuckle falling from her lips before aiming the other of her grappling guns and pulling herself across the deck up to her best in one swift motion. She couldn't help but grimace at Lance's confident words. Lance's plans had this insane way of _working_ while not actually _working_ at all. By that she meant, Lance was a mad genius that came up with batshit crazy plans that **never** worked the way they were supposed to while somehow managing to work out _**perfectly**_ **.** The more confident he is, the more unexpected the twists are which was part of the reason why she and Hunk, and the rest of their crew, followed him. He was the embodiment of adventure with an amazing set of morals. A pirate set of morals mind you, but a set nonetheless. If he didn't, the prince would have drowned in the lilac water and most of their crew would have much worse fates.

Regardless, she was ready to back up her batshit captain in any way she could.

XxXxXxX

The plan to get the not so legal tech off the planet was simple initially; get the goods, get the ship, get off Mizga but when Lance broke the surface tension of the water, it sent the rest of the planets lilac ocean into a mass of swirling death which messed with the hydropower grids which meant the port would have sent guards to keep the peace until they could get power back to situation normal. The guards were easy to trick but the power grid being unstable meant the rest of his ship is still docked up and anchored in unless they can figure out a way to get the fluctuating power steady enough to release the boot from his ship. Without the rest of his ship, they couldn't leave the atmosphere. Minnie had her benefits but the open deck style of her meant no space travel and they needed space travel capabilities right now.

He was slipping on the silk-lined captains jacket lost to his own thoughts as he turned the corner to talk to his engineer. Without caring to see if anyone else was present, Lance started speaking in a rush of animated information spilling, arms flailing along with his words, "Hunk! My buddy! My pal! I've got a problem only you can fix. Well you and Pidge. Probably. Anyway, thanks to my perfectly executed rescue dive we've got to figure out some way to power the clamps stuck on the rest of Blue so we can leave." He paused his almost frantic pacing to shoot the Balmera a cheeky wink to accompany his duel finger guns before continuing, "That's where you come in. Or Pidge," he added with a shrug before turning his bright eyes to Hunk expectantly. "What do ya say? Think you can get us off Mizga?"

Keith had only wandered around the ship for thirty seconds before Hunk beckoned for him to come into the galley to try a pinkish-yellow goo that looked far less appetizing than anything he'd ever seen in his life. He outright refused to be a test subject but Hunk didn't seem to mind much as the two fell into a surprisingly easy conversation about the Balmera when Lance burst into the galley with tunnel vision so intense he didn't recognize Keith's presence in any way shape or form.

Before the prince could say something about not being able to leave the planet or the fact that Lance was entrusting the task of getting them off planet to the cook, Hunk's immense hand went to his chin in thought. "Well, I'm going to _have_ to talk to Pidge so you can try to convince her to leave the Nest and help. I'm not using those hooks and I'm not being hauled up there like some barrel of nunvill again. It was embarrassing and uncomfortable." The easy way he spoke without putting any real fire in his words, as if he was just stating a fact and not making a demand, quirked the Galran prince's brow curiously to see how Lance's flair for the dramatic would counter that no nonsense statement.

Keith watched the handsome Altean physically deflate and pout. Like a child. It got him wondering just how this outrageously young and reckless man came to be a captain of any ship at all, let alone one like this one in the first place. He spent all his spare time flying but he'd never seen anything like Lance's vessel and it irked him to think he stole it. They were pirates though so maybe it would best to not bring it up.

Lance crossed his arms over his chest and sulked comically while dressed in his impressive and intimidating captain's regalia. "You know she doesn't listen to me and last time I tried to force her down, she changed all my lotions around and it took me movements to figure out which was which. Movements, Hunk! Movements!"

The towering Balmera wasn't moved by his captain's pleas in the slightest as his eyelids drooped to dangerously apathetic levels. "I'm not going up there."

"Ugh, you know I'm going to have to give her something for this, right?" He had pushed the folded brim of his hat up to rub his temples to try and ease the rapidly growing migraine beneath them. It couldn't be helped; any time he had to bargain with the goblin, she always got the better deal and he always ended up hurt. Emotionally, physically, mentally; one or more always applied.

Hunk's tone grew more and more teasing until he hit the end of his retort. The end of his reply was distinctly deadpanned for maximum effect. "You know, I'm more than happy to stay on Mizga. The food is good, the ocean is usually peaceful and _I don't have to be lifted into a confined space with a pulley system made to move cargo._ "

The clearing of a throat caught Lance's attention and only after did he realize for the first time since arriving that Keith was also there which was what he wanted to avoid. What he wanted was to impress the grumpy, handsome Galra by getting him back home without a hitch and that's hard to do when they couldn't get off the planet and most definitely had a hitch.

Ignoring the utterly amused look on his first-mate's face, Lance tried to rein in his mini tantrum only to be cut off by Keith's distinctly serious voice that somehow came across as condescending and also angry all the time. "Are you saying that I'm stuck here and you don't have a way to get me home?"

Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, the Altean explained the situation as best he could to contain the already raging fires of the prince. "We are stuck here only temporarily. I just need my wonderful crewmates to do their genius thing and make a gizmo to channel the unstable power into the port's anchor system to release the rest of my ship and then we are on our way. No biggie."

The incredulous and again, _angry_ look didn't waver from Keith's face and it made Lance's stomach flip from his own nervousness. He tried again to reassure their unwilling stowaway with a shaky but confident smile, "So I'm just going to get the devilspawn and those two can explain." He bolted from the room and cursed himself for voluntarily running toward Pidge and for fleeing away from Keith.

The moment the tails of his jacket flapped through the door of the galley, Keith's face dropped into disbelief and Hunk burst into loud, rolling belly laughs because Hunk knew what fleeing in panic looked like and it looked _especially_ good from Lance.

When he finally managed to get his humor under control, the towering Balmeran picked up his bowl of goo and nodded his head towards the door the Altean just escaped through as he made his way around the counters. "C'mon, Prince Galra, we've got a show to watch."

Keith's sharp brow rose inquizically as he asked, "A show?", only get no reply from the humming behemoth.

He followed the cheerful Balmeran reluctantly. Keith was starting to get the impression that getting saved by this crew was only putting off the inevitable. He wasn't going to leave Mizga and even if he did, Mizga is a long jump from the fleet. His hand ran through the sea breeze loosened black hair framing his face as he tried not to think about just how angry his brother was going to be when he realized he was missing.

When the pair made it back out to the main deck, even Keith had trouble keeping from laughing at the scene before them. Lance was using his hat to bat away tiny projectiles being launched from the Crow's Nest at the highest peak of the ship. They sounded like they were really packing a punch as they bounced and ricocheted off anything and everything in their way.

Though he was very clearly annoyed with the situation, the captain's tone stayed bubbly and bright as he yelled up towards Pidge, "You know Hunk doesn't like it up there and I need you both to work together or we can't leave and if we can't leave, we don't get paid which means _you_ don't get paid either. I know you've been eyeing that alloy from Antikythera and I know it's not cheap-"

The whole time he was trying to speak, he was dodging tiny metal-like balls before one managed to slip past his defenses and hit him in the center of his forehead which earned enthused cheers from the Nest and half a yelp from the captain as he fell backwards on his ass for the second time thanks to Pidge.

Her victory was short-lived as Keith watched Lance's marks start to glow faintly beneath sharp determined eyes. It was barely ten seconds before howling laughter was heard and Lance's smirk widened, growing more and more attractive as it did.

"You filthy cheat!" Pidge's voice was tight due to Lance's magic and the tickling sensation he was sending through her body just under the skin of her sides where he knew she hated it the most. "All right! I'll come down! Just stop, you asshole wizard!"

Watching as Lance flipped his hat back on his head and his marks faded back to normal, Keith expected him to be arrogant like he was before at the victory but was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. Lance was actually just grateful he didn't have to sell his soul or give up his first born and no one got hurt save the slingshot hit to his face so all in all, this was a massive win for him and he had no reason to be anything _but_ grateful to have the family he managed to rustle together no matter their occasional dysfunction. Especially when he would be the epitome of lost without them. "Where would I be without your mad scientist brain?"

Grumbling could be heard from where Pidge had fallen in a heap from the sensory attack. She managed to use her hook and lower herself to the deck with familiar child-like pout on her face. She made an immediate beeline for Hunk as she answered her captain's totally rhetorical question, "Without a doubt, you'd be dead, Cap. We should have everything handled on our end before we get to port but if not, you'll have to stall someway that doesn't draw attention. You're _so_ good at that."

Her tone was all bright supportive crewmate but Lance knew it was a dig somehow. Even so, he didn't let it get to him as he started crossing to deck to where Keith was standing with a silent edgy attitude that both irritated and encaptured him. "Leave it to me and the prince, Pidgey." Lance's confidence was near blinding as he made his way next to the sassy Galra to sling his arm around his shoulders and squeeze them together in a tight side hug, "Isn't that right, buddy?"

His words barely registered as he gave a slow nod of his head. He couldn't think straight with the way _all_ of the Altean's attention and apparent charisma were aimed directly at him in that moment and boy, was he struck by it all the way down to his core. Being a prince never gave him any mind into pursuing relationships and it had made his desire to have one diminish to nothing. He would be set up in a political marriage that benefitted his people as well as improving the Galra society as a whole and that would be that. He would have a son and that would be his responsibility filled. But now? Now he had rumblings in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't place and his chest constricted the moment Lance's beaming smile split his lips and aimed right at him. _His lips_. Unconsciously, his gaze dropped from the enchanting Altean eyes to watch Lance's tongue dart out and wet his shapely top lip from the dry, acidic air, the insignificant motion pulling Keith's face unconsciously closer.

"Uh...Keith? You okay? You look a little...well, not sick but…" An amused kind of concern took hold in his bright eyes and before Keith really could process what was happening, they were moving.

Taking the time to not think about how much he liked being this close to the Altean, he tried admiring the boat that was hopefully going to save his life. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen with a massive sail cutting through the center of the ship made of some force field connected to the crow's nest and two other points low on either side of the ship. The ship itself wasn't very large, needing maybe only five to sail it effectively but so far, he had only seen Lance, Pidge and Hunk.

"How are you keeping this ship sailing with only three crew members?" He hadn't meant for the question to come out as brusque as it did and honestly, he held hope that maybe Lance didn't hear him over the wind and tumultuous water and he could just take in his closeness with silent reverie.

He wasn't that lucky it seemed.

Instead of pulling away from him to answer, Lance kept his languid pace up and tilted his tanned face towards his own as he responded with his usual flair, "This? This is technically just a transporter I like to call Minnie but the real magic lies with Blue. Minnie by herself is basically just the helm separated from the rest of the ship for easier maneuvering planetside. When we get to port and release the real knockout power, you'll have to check in with your boots."

"My...boots?" The childish confusion in his tone and on his face was downright precious coming from the surly Galra.

"You know...to check to see if your socks are still there? Cause I'll have knocked them off…" Noticing his words were going right over Keith's head, he halted their moving to explain better. "Because you'll be so blown away and impressed with my ship that she'll blow your socks off? Nothing?"

Giving a hesitant shake of his head, Keith looked away from Lance's gaze to mumble, "What are socks?"

Lance was genuinely taken aback by the genuine question. "What do you wear on your feet?"

"Boots?"

"What about inside your boots?"

"My...feet?"

"There isn't anything between your foot and your boot?"

"No?"

"Dude, that's gross."

Offended by the teasing tone and at being called gross, his arms went out to his sides as he countered grumpily, "I don't even know what socks are! How does that make me gross?!"

His anger ceased almost instantly when he heard the quiet lilting chuckles coming from Lance. The young Altean was grabbing his stomach he was laughing so hard at Keith's quick offense before wiping the corner of his eyes and pulling his boot off to reveal a bright turquoise sock with little black and white creatures woven on them.

Making a dramatic motion to emphasize his feet, Keith took in the 'sock' with a curious tilt to his head and pointed to it skeptically. "That's a sock?"

"Mhmm." Lance was decidedly proud to have showed him something new. He also happened to be wearing his favorite pair of specially-made Kaltenecker socks.

"What's the point?"

"The point? Of a sock?"

Keith gave another quick nod of his head as his lips pursed into serious thought territory over _socks_.

Looking down at his own socked foot, back up to Keith's face and back down to the sock, he hesitantly offered, "Well, it's a hygiene thing for some and they do come in all the colors of the rainbow so they are pretty fashionable but for me? I'd rather have a wet sock than have my precious skin rubbed off from the inside my boots." He bent to tug the supple leather shoe back on his foot and missed the panicked look on the prince's face when his gaze fell to the ridiculously low split in his billowy powder blue shirt and saw just a flash of his tanned and very toned chest, the teasing black lines of tattoos hinted at existence before Lance was upright and beaming once again.

Both his hands were on his hips, the hilt of his sword sticking from his right side as a pistol rested in a holster strapped to his thigh. It was an impressive aesthetic but Keith still had his doubts about getting off the planet. Regardless of just how much Keith wanted... _something_ with the Altean, he didn't have the luxury. With his thoughts back on what should be his only priority, his voice went back to the even measured tone from before, "What's your plan for getting us out of here?"

The slow curling smile that formed on Lance's face made him physically back away from fearful surprise and he suddenly felt very nervous for what was to come next.

XxXxXxXxX

This was officially the dumbest plan in all of existence. Not only was Lance banking on no Galra guards being here but he was also banking on no one recognizing him in this shoddy disguise while Pidge got the generator for lack of a better term to the systems room and Hunk flew Minnie into port to connect her to the rest of Blue. Not to mention, Lance was going out of his way to hit on everything with a pulse and drawing _lots_ of attention to them.

He really wished his craft hadn't exploded and he had a way to just get in contact with Shiro to have him come pick him up without their father finding out. Or worse yet, the Blades.

In a hiss of a command, Keith latched onto Lance's elbow and dragged him back towards the reception desk to see how long they would have before the port opened officially and it would be too congested to leave, "Focus, you idiot."

Of course his terrible mood didn't phase the energetic captain as he gave him a casual wink and tossed sassily, "Aww, did I make the prince jealous? If you wanted my full attention, all you had to do was ask, pretty boy."

To prevent himself from choking on his own attraction for Lance, Keith shoved past him once again, releasing his grip on Lance's toned arm to grumble under his breath, "Pfft, jealous. I'm _embarrassed_ for you. That's what's going on…I'm not jealous."

Lance smothered his giggles in favor of trailing behind him. Though the armor the prince was wearing when he crashed was skin tight and had its benefits, there was something to be said about the way Keith's broad shoulders filled out one of his loose, billowy shirts, the white material hugging the muscle of his back to display them marvelously for Lance. Though they were about even as far as height went, Lance having maybe an inch or two on him, but Keith was bulkier. Still lithe like himself, but bigger nonetheless and it was enough of a distraction for the flirt to lose sight of the rest of the people in the large port save for Keith. A feat not many could have succeeded in.

When Lance had the nagging thought that he could easily send just enough of his magic through to Keith's skin to make him have to stretch those muscles, an actual villainous cackle escaped from his body before his hands clamped over his mouth and he decided to focus on just getting off Mizga unscathed.

XxXxXxXxX

"THAT WASN'T A PLAN, LANCE! THAT WASN'T EVEN A QUARTER OF A PLAN-"

While Keith wasn't wrong, Lance certainly didn't appreciate getting yelled at when they were now happily on their way to getting paid and pulling away from the port full of Galra soldiers. While no one recognized Keith, they certainly noticed Hunk's clumsy piloting enough to raise alarm and send the whole place into overdrive. Pidge just barely managed to make it back to Blue before Lance practically threw Keith over his shoulder and hoped for the best.

"-YOU JUST THREW ME OVER YOUR SHOULDER YOU ASS! I HAVE MY OWN TWO LEGS DAMNIT! YOU CAN'T JUST-"

Lance put a halt to the Galra's panicked angry yelling by taking his shoulders in his hands and forcing his eyes to meet his as his voice came through calm and oddly soothing, "Keith, calm down. We are fine. We made it out with all pieces in tact-"

Pidge's unhelpful voice of false-longing sounded over the comm system, "Not true. I had to leave that beautiful work of art behind…"

Looking up to the ceiling as if she could see his exaggerated eye roll, Lance continued without acknowledging her words further, "All we have to do is make a quick stop on one of Procyon's moons, the _best_ moon if you ask me, and then you can give us the coordinates to where you want to go. Boom, you're home and we get paid. Everyone's a winner."

Keith was doing his best to keep in control of his emotions but after spending ten hours with the captain, he could feel the sharp points of his teeth against his tongue and all but ripped himself away from the Altean's grasp. His breath was ragged and uneven as he muttered and started pacing in front of a flabbergasted Lance. "What am I gonna tell Shiro? What am I gonna tell Kolivan? I'll never be allowed out of his sight again… How should I have known that fog would knock out my systems? I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life. That's it. I'm going to be a puppet now."

Lance could hear everything he was saying crystal clear thanks to the perks of his magic. His uncle had called it sensory awareness but it just meant he had heightened senses with the capability to project 'feelings' or 'sensations' on other beings. Keith had no way of knowing but his panicked words struck a chord within the Altean. He knew what it felt like to not have any control over your own life and he especially knew just how heavy the weight of an empire can be when you don't want it.

With a soft tone and an even softer touch, Lance gently put his hand on the prince's elbow to try to at least stop his frantic pacing. Though his now tangled and ruffled head of hair snapped to glare at where they were connected, he made no effort to move away. "Keith, I...I'm sorry."

Taken by surprise by the unwarranted apology, he assumed Lance was talking about the near-failure of a shit show that just went down in the port and almost involuntarily sputtered, "That's not- You don't have to...be sorry. We did make it out okay and that's really the only-"

"Not for that. I mean," suddenly very self conscious, he ran his hands through his curls and focused on staring at the pendant around Keith's neck that set him aside from other Galra peeking out from beneath the deep v of his shirt instead of the harsh look that was sure to be on his face, "I mean, I'm sorry you can't live your life the way you want to. I know what-" He had to cut himself off before he gave entirely too much to the prince before whispering with enough emotion that even Keith could recognize the genuine feeling behind it, "It must suck to always have to put everyone else before you all the time."

The moment hung in the air like a dead weight on Lance's chest. He was desperate to tell someone where he came from and who he was but lacked any real motivation to go back. Allura would take up her father's mantle and he was just someone to marry off 'for the better of all Alteans'. A piece of a puzzle he never asked to be a part of anyway. He hoped he didn't give anything away but somehow, he couldn't find himself caring even if he did if it meant easing some of the tension riddling Keith's body.

For Keith, there was a different kind of tightening in his chest. After nearly 20 decaphoebs of not knowing if people cared for him as a person or just his title and 20 decaphoebs of swallowing his emotions and dreams in favor of being a level-headed and responsible prince, someone finally acknowledged him and his feelings. Someone acknowledged them and _cared about them._ Shiro was always there for him and would happily listen to anything Keith would have to say but it just felt wrong to put his burdens and complaints on top of the mass of responsibilities his older brother already had loaded on his shoulders but Lance had absolutely nothing to gain from caring for him in any capacity. He was a pirate and an Altean. If anything, his rescue benefitted him none and even hindered his escape. So why did he do it?

Raising his eyes to look over Lance's features openly now that the captivating blue of his eyes weren't boldly meeting his demanding to be seen for once, he took in the almost fragile features of the young man in front of him. He had a feline quality about his bone structure that was distinct and almost sensual.

Looking closer, his brows furrowed deeply before recognition washed over him and his body went white hot with a feeling that mixed the opposing feelings of ' _finally_ ' and ' _please, no_ '. He wouldn't have the horrible, fantastic luck to have found Alfor's lost boy making Lance not only a Prince in his own right, but another problem in it of itself. _You've got to be kidding me…_

Unknowing of Keith's thoughts, Lance's word throw up got the better of him as he moved to rub the back of his head with an obviously forced smile that was riding the cusp of psychotic, "Not that I would know what that's like but you know, being a captain kind of puts pressure on you? Yeah, so I could imagine what it might be like to be in your shoes. It gets pretty lonely when there is no one there to actually hear what you have to say. No one to ask what you want. Which isn't a problem for me because, you know," he pointed to himself in a weirdly uncontrolled and spastic manner, "pirate, right? I get to do whatever I want all the time."

It was Keith's turn to be smug. "Are you trying to convince me or you of that?"

Not realizing the far too casual stance of his counterpart with his arms crossed loosely over his chest and a knowing smirk firmly in place on his face, Lance answered honestly in a breathy huff, "Both maybe? I'm really a no good pirate anyway. I don't have the bloodlust or the golden motivation to do it but I can't go back now."

"Why not?"

Rolling his eyes, he retorted with an almost snide tone, "Because I ran away, Keith. I don't just get to come back like and they'll be all 'hey Lance, we really missed you while you were away. Please take your rightful spot as'-" Realizing what he was about to say, his jaw snapped shut as he let out a tiny squeak of sheer panic.

Totally enjoying seeing the lost Altean royal flustered, Keith stepped forward with a smug confidence that made him seem larger than life to Lance. "Spot as what exactly? You've made it very clear you are not what you seem and you obviously have some experience in ruling in some capacity so tell me, Altean, where do you belong?"

He hadn't realized he had been backing away from the Galra until his back hit the cold metal of the wall, Keith's frame less than a foot from his own as he whisper-blurted, "Pidge and Hunk know but the rest of the crew doesn't so keep your voice down."

"You bear a striking resemblance to the Altean royal line in features. How much of your concentration goes into changing your features?"

Rolling his eyes before he spoke, Lance tried to keep from sounding defensive, "I'll have you know I'm not hiding anything right now. I only have to change if I venture too close to home. It's been decaphoebs and I have serious doubts that anyone is still looking for me."

Keith's eyes widened at the realization that Lance was _naturally_ that attractive before steeling his nerves for one more question. One that might break his spirit right here. "Was it worth it? Was it worth it to run?"

It was Lance's turn to have shock take root in his body. He wasn't sure how to answer that question. He missed his family every single day and most nights were worse than others but he got to be who he wanted to be and make decisions for himself. He got to make mistakes without other people bearing the consequences. He got to have a life he chose.

But Lance only ever **had** Allura and her family to take care of him. Without them and their generosity, he would have been left to the streets as a baby. His mother was Alfor's sister but both his parents died when a solar flare went off while they were out of their ship doing repairs while on a diplomatic mission when he was a baby. He owed his uncle his life anyway, so was it really his to be selfish with?

"I- I don't know."

His words were the barest whisper as the bright blue of his eyes washed out with tears and met Keith's own deep purple ones as Keith himself felt something snap in his body at the electric connection. He needed action and that action needed to wipe the horrifying lost look off Lance's face. It looked foreign there and made his chest ache even more than it already was.

Trusting his instincts when it came to the alien interaction of comforting someone, he wrapped his arm around Lance's shoulder and pulled him in tight to his body in his attempt at a hug and the moment he did, Lance came undone. Keith knew this kind of undoing. It wasn't loud and dramatic; it was quiet and all-consuming and most of the time, it was necessary to move on.

Silent sobs heaved Lance's chest as he pressed his face into the crook of Keith's neck, taking in the masculine scent of his hair to soothe him enough to be able to wrap his arms around Keith's frame unabashedly.

Eventually, Lance tired enough to pull back but not meet the other man's gaze, his arm coming up to wipe his face. "Sorry about that."

Knowing it would be useless to tell him he had nothing to apologize for, he opted for a distraction rather than forcing him to talk about it too soon. "So, do you have anything to drink on this ship?"

"Drink?', the confusion in his voice apparent through the quiet sniffles, "Um, yeah but all the good stuff is in my room so I could go get it-"

"Great. Let's go. I can't wait to see what state your room's in." It was a little more forceful than he meant it to be but Keith watched as Lance wiped the rest of his tears away on his shoulder and a small smile replaced his frown.

With little more than a noise of acknowledgment, Lance pushed off the wall he had nearly crumpled down with the intention of going around the Galran prince but the man had other plans as he grabbed Lance's hand and wrapped it around his forearm in the only princely gesture he's made since meeting him as if it was the most normal thing for him to do.

They walked in silence. Lance internally fighting with the different aspects of his personality and Keith trying to figure out why of all the beings, he found himself rapidly becoming attached to this one in particular.

By the time they came to Lance's quarters, his personality had shut down entirely and Keith had came to the conclusion that if he wanted to see where things went, if they could even go anywhere further than this, he would need to be around the Altean and that meant, he had to go home which worked out perfectly because that's where the fleet, the Blades and his brother all were on their way to.

Lance opened the door and let Keith in, rubbing the back of his head nervously as he rambled, a sound Keith was finding more and more endearing as it happened. "This is it. My room. Don't mind all the...stuff. Oh and don't mind Fluff, he's not a huge fan of sharing space with new people."

 _Fluff? What kind of a name is that?_ The prince's confusion was short-lived and replaced with deadpanned incredulity.

"Is that a quiznacking dragon?"

"What? No! Dragons don't exist you idiot but for all intents and purpose, yeah he is a dragon and he's the best little fluff there ever was!" His tone morphed into a coo as the eyeless space lizard crawled up Lance's body to settle around his neck and get comfy. Fluff seemed to be made of some sort of deep red crystal but the way the Altean was petting and scratching under his chin made him think otherwise.

"That's a dragon." The tone was concrete as he completely ignored Lance's denial.

Turning his back away from Keith to make his way to his 'secret stash', Lance's voice grew less and less tight the longer he moved and chatted. "He's not a dragon. I found him after we had gotten boarded by real pirates and he's been here ever since. I tried to take him somewhere for him to be free but he never flew away. He's never actually flown at all but he climbs really well and he moves things with his mind from time to time which is cool. I've never even heard of anything like him so we mostly just had to feel things out for awhile. Huh, little baby boy." The little dragon-creature rubbed his head under Lance's chin at the showering of affection he was receiving. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm late for a good reason this time. A new friend!"

Lance's eyes met Keith's with a determined smile and his voice was at least back to something resembling positive neutrality, "He has a tendency to not like new people so don't feel bad if he doesn't take a shining to you right away. Sometimes he just needs some time to adjust but he won't hurt you."

Before Keith could stop him, Fluff was being draped over his shoulders and his whole body went rigid. Animals of all kinds did not like Keith. Shiro had tried to get him into the stables and every time he went there he ended up getting kicked or stepped on by something and the last time he went to a 'zoo', one of the piromoke managed to angle his firespit just well enough to burn a chunk of his hair off. He could feel careful paws moving and the breath from the little thing was hitting the back of his neck as he burrowed into the loose waves of his hair before he heard a girlish ' _awww'_ and cracked his eye open to take in the proud look on the captain's face.

"He'll probably stay like that for awhile. He likes when his face is hidden in something. It helps him sleep so you'll be stuck with him til he wakes up." Which was true, the little devil slept like a rock. A rock that's feet acted like super glue regardless of consciousness. Of course, Lance knew that all he needed to do to get him to release long enough to move him was to keep his head covered and rub his tummy but Keith didn't know that and damn it, Lance was going to make the most of his time with the Galra, even if it means employing some good old fashioned deception to keep him in his room.

Keith on the other hand was trying to not have an emotional breakdown that not only had he found a real person he might be able to connect with but a pet actually liked him and trusted him enough to fall asleep near him. He didn't mind that his breath tickled the hair at the back of his neck and even fought his need to bind his long hair back in its usual braid.

He hadn't moved his hands from the fists at his sides but very _very_ carefully turned his head to look at the little fluff in astonishment. Despite looking very sharp, his scales were soft to the point of feathery to match the scales on his tail. His body was maybe a foot long and his tail was double that but the thing that really got him was his ears. At first glance they almost look like horns, twisted at the ends like corkscrews but they too were soft and pliable. They seemed to be his way of expressing himself as they bobbed and twitched since he completely lacked eyes and he had yet to see a mouth of any kind. There were two holes on either side of his head with one big one at the center of his face flanked by two more smaller holes. Somehow the overall effect was adorable and not creepy and Keith was pretty sure he was in love with the fluff.

Lance's soft laughter was filled with warmth and affection as he reached a jewel studded hand out to run the back of his fingers down Fluff's back, the tips of them barely ghosting over the sensitive skin below Keith's ear all the way to the column of his throat forcing the older of the two to swallow the sudden desert that formed in his mouth at the sensual contact. _Did he...mean to do that?_

Continuing his ministrations for a minute longer before handing Keith a glass of some crystal clear liquid that most definitely wasn't water, Lance motioned for him to come sit on the low plush cushions of his bed surrounded by at least thirty pillows of varying colors, shapes and sizes. "I'll be right back. Did you want me to see if something of mine will work for you to sleep in because those clothes are ruined and your armor didn't look all that comfortable for sleeping anyway."

Lost to his own circular thoughts of the pretty Altean and his pet dragon, he tilted his head and responded only with a quiet but questioning ' _hmm?_ ' before Lance gave him a toothless smile and let him know he would be back in a dobosh.

In that one dobosh, Keith made the mistake of downing his entire glass of liquor in one teeth rotting sweet gulp followed by the worst burning sensation he's ever felt in his whole existence. It was like swallowing molten lava and he was trying to keep it together but he could feel his forehead start to drip with sweat. _I'm gonna die like this._

"DID YOU DRINK THE WHOLE THING?! Why the quiznack would you do that!? Hold still, Keith. I promise...everything will be okay...if you just let me get...my...hands- Hah! How's it feel now?"

During Lance's one-sided dialogue and his impressive flexibility while wrestling, he managed to get the soft skin of his palm over Keith's throat to soothe the damaged nerves and ease the burning sensation but now the royal was going to pass out from their position. The only way Lance could get Keith to stop flailing and move his hands out of his way was to pin them down on either side of his head but he still needed to get at least one of his own hands free which is how Lance's foot ended up in the crook of Keith's elbow but it didn't explain why the Altean was wearing shorts loose enough to give the Galra a clear shot right up them. As if that wasn't enough, he could feel Lance's breathy huffs across his face from how close he had gotten during their struggle. He wasn't going to mention what the gentle touch around his throat was doing to his already fragile sexuality. He couldn't think about that when he was desperately trying to keep from popping a boner directly underneath Lance's ass.

"Keith? You're still breathing right?"

The concern lacing his words pulled him from himself enough to give his raven head of hair a subtle nod and the look of relief on Lance's tanned face almost rivalled the relief he felt under his touch.

"You're supposed to sip at it. Don't get me wrong, I don't understand it either but initial sugar rush relieves the burn and then by the time you finish the drink, you're too jacked to feel the final burn. I hope you aren't a lightweight because we are about to have a serious bonding moment otherwise." Despite the current position he was in, Lance was completely oblivious to anything save easing Keith's pain. In his distraction, he hadn't realized his thumb was tracing over the column of soft skin over his throat in lazy passes. "You ever spend the night with your head in the toilet?" He didn't leave any time for Keith to actually answer as he put his full weight down on Keith's hips in an unconscious effort to be more comfortable and less like a spider trying to avoid water, "I have and trust me, it's a lot better when you have someone there to rub your back and hold your hair. I'm also going to make sure you drink a lot of water and stay hydrated. Can't have my little prince-y poo dehydrated when he goes back to ruling over millions of battle-hardened Galrans."

Somewhere between 'feel the final burn' and 'bonding moment' Keith really started feeling good. Better than good, he felt alive and _uninhibited_ and thanks to the added effects of Lance's mystery space moonshine, he lacked all filters and simply wanted to see if the Altean's marks felt different than the rest of his impossibly soft skin.

Lance watched a lazy grin pull at Keith's lips as his arm lifted from beneath his hand with little effort to trace the pad of his thumb over the pastel turquoise marks framing hypnotizing almond eyes, the rest of his cheek cradled in a rough, scarred hand. "...mmm, so soft. Like the rest of you…"

Big blue eyes blinked owlishly as a hot blush spread across his cheeks. Letting out a few self-deprecating chuckles before gathering his thoughts enough to speak. "Right, so you are feeling it and I'm going to get you into comfy clothes that way you can feel even better. How's that sound?"

Lance was now fully aware of the position they were in and was trying his hardest to stay cool, calm and collected since Keith was about to be non-functional for a few hours and if he was really lucky and if the stars showed him favor, maybe Keith wouldn't remember that he almost melted his throat off.

The brunette let out a surprised gasp when instead of being a pile of mush like he would have been after downing the entire glass in Keith's situation, the hand that had caressed his cheek wrapped around the back of his neck to brace him as his sat the two of them upright but kept his other hand hovering just over his hips hesitantly, suddenly aware that this was crossing an imaginary line.

"Keith-"

"Lance-"

They both paused, Keith with a smile on his face and Lance looking like a tomato before each gestured for the other to go ahead.

"Is this-"

"Are you-"

Unable to keep from laughing at the quick exchange, both let out quiet, breathy chuckles, breaking the awkward tension enough to have Lance get out what he needed to. "You aren't going to remember any of this tomorrow and I really don't want you to do anything you'll regret. Soooo yeah. I should probably get up and you should probably take your clothes off." His eyes widened to astronomical levels before he backpedaled, "Wait, I didn't mean it to sound- That's not what meant. You do need to change and that does require taking the previous clothes off but I could leave. Or you could just use the bathroom but you can't lock the door because I've already had to replace that door twice and I don't want to have to do it again-"

"Lance."

"-because it took Hunk five quintants just to find the right metal. Do you know what it's like to not have a door on your bathroom? Let me tell you, it blows-"

"Lance, shut-"

"-Pidge hacked my door and took videos of my in shower! I sounded fabulous of course, but still! The gall of-"

Without thinking, Keith put his hand over Lance's mouth to cut him off and without thinking, Lance's tongue immediately darted out as a knee-jerk reaction from having to play with the servants kids even though they hated him.

Both sets of eyes turned to saucers before Keith removed his hand from soft lips in favor of gripping the bottom hem of Lance's shirt at his waist and Lance put his hand over his mouth before leaning forward so his forehead was resting against the exposed skin of his collarbone.

He moved his hand from his mouth long enough to speak, "Oh my stars, I didn't mean to lick you. I mean, I meant to lick you but it was an involuntary reaction so I didn't _mean_ to lick _you_ in particular. I should stop talking," before replacing his hands back over his mouth to try and bar in any more ridiculous things from escaping.

Only when Keith raised his hand to run his fingers through the brunette curls at the nape of Lance's neck did Fluff move from where he had attached himself to Keith to one of the many extra pillows lying about around them and even that was reluctantly done on the space dragon's part.

The Galran couldn't believe how impossibly _soft_ Lance was. Every part of him was soft and warm where he was hard and cold and he craved more of it. He wanted to see this soft boy smile again and listen to him ramble. No one ever talked to him long enough to ramble. No one ever had a real conversation with him anymore. The Blades had their own problems to keep them plenty busy and so did Shiro which left passing soldiers or diplomats and the staff as his only facet for socialization.

His voice was husky from the liquor as he continued to play with brunette curls, "I like hearing what you have to say. No one talks to me like I'm a person like you."

Knowing himself well, Lance's response was easy as he lifted his head shyly, "I'll remember you said that you know. Can't take it back now."

Keith was trying to take in as much of him as he could and that coupled with a lack of inhibitions that would usually keep all emotion internalized had the handsome, droopy-eyed Galra purring out honestly, "I like your face."

Left blinking once again, Lance offered earnestly in an effort to keep from lying but not intentionally provoke the guy, "I like your face too."

 _That head tilt of his is going to be the death of me. Just take me now._ It hit him right in the chest when Keith's hair flopped to the side and he asked without a trace of his usual standoffish attitude, "You do?"

Narrowing his eyes skeptically, he cautiously answered, "Yes...which I'm sure you are used to hearing. You're the prince and also hot as quiznack-" Lance cleared his throat casually before continuing, "Yeah, I'm sure you aren't lacking in compliments."

Keith gave a casual shrug because he wasn't wrong but none of them had been from Lance so none of them mattered. "Can I have my pajamas now?"

"Oh right," he said as he twisted around to pick up the abandoned clothes and hold them out to Keith, "Here you go. I think they'll work for you but if not, I'm sure one of the other guys would have something to fit."

Keith took the clothes silently and waited to see how long it would take the boisterous Altean to realize he needed to get up, his eyes never leaving Lance's as a solid minute went by.

Looking down and remembering he was currently straddling one of the Princes of the Galran Empire, he practically shot off his lap before offering his hand to help the just shorter Galran up, his face a very pretty shade of pink under the deep tan of his skin.

It didn't take long for the calluses from decaphoebs of training in sword handling and combat to slide across the over sensitized nerves of his palm and save a wave of shivers through his body. Before he even registered actually helping Keith up, the Galra was upright and wrapping Lance's hand around his forearm again in a simple chivalrous act that had his heart racing.

Lance wasn't going to complain about the casual touch. He would never admit it out loud but Keith's skin did things to his nerves he's never had happen before. It was like his nerves could relax for the first time since his magic manifested at the age of four.

They stayed quiet as they walked toward his bathroom. It was the biggest Blue had and he adored it but right now, he just wanted Keith to shower and change and go to sleep. His heart couldn't take anymore without wanting to do something rash. Lance's voice was tentative but kind, "Do you want to shower before we go to bed?"

Keith waited for Lance to realize that he said 'before _we_ go to bed', waited for his cheeks to turn rosy beneath the blue of his marks the way he liked at the implication but it never came. They both just stared expectantly at the other until Lance waved his hand in front of his visibly not sober face before repeating, "Hello? I said, do you want to shower before we go to bed? Between the unexpected swim and the near-disaster at port, I'm sure you could use one so here's a towel and a luffa," Lance was pulling fluffy towels down and handing them to Keith without really looking, "Feel free to use anything in there. I'm just going to turn around until you get in though because a) I don't want you to fall and break something important so I'm not leaving and b) I've got a serious night ritual that has been lacking so get to stripping because I'm not leaving."

Lance turned his back, his hip cocked out defiantly only making the loose fabric of his shorts pull tight over the defined muscle of his ass as his legs flexed with each impatient bounce of his foot.

Keith was completely mesmerized by the shape of the man before him. He'd never taken the time to really look at anyone in more than a calculating manner but Lance was extremely attractive. He liked the deep bronze of his skin and how it looked next to his own pale purple tone and he especially liked the way all his bronze beauty held together sinuous, toned muscle capable of things you wouldn't expect.

"I don't hear shower noises, my lost prince!" The playful sing-song of his voice was at complete odds with his body language but the only thing Keith's brain latched onto was the possessive pronoun 'my' with gleeful satisfaction before pulling the dirty shirt from his body, dropping his pants and stepping into the shower.

His confidence was short-lived. "Lance?"

There was a quiet innocence about the way Keith said his name and it pulled at him. "Yeah? What do you need?" He was standing just on the other said of the frosted door waiting for Keith to answer.

"How...does this work? Why are there so many knobs? What do they even do?"

The raven-haired Galra heard a 'smack' from the other side of the door and almost threw the sliding door back open to make sure Lance was okay before the Alteans voice sounded from the other side, "I guess I kind of assumed you would just know how to work the shower. I'm going to open the door and show you which knobs you want and which you don't, okay?"

Without waiting for Keith to answer, Lance's upper body entered the shower facing away from him as he explained how to work the water before shutting the door to get back to his routine. The instant his curly mop of hair poked in to the instant it popped back out, Keith's body temperature had risen as his bodies version of rebelling against him resisting the effects of the booze. And boy were there effects. None of them mattered when he was close to Lance but something about the way the liquor was feeding his suppressed desire was forcing him to choke down very instinctual urges. Urges that would definitely get him into trouble.

It was another fifteen doboshes before Lance heard the shower stop and Keith step out from the cloud of steam fogging the top edges of his mirror. His voice distorted with the odd ways he was pulling at his face to check his pores, "Took you long enough. I almost finished _my_ ridiculous skin routine before you even got out of the shower."

"Do you think you'd ever come with me?"

Utterly confused by the completely random question, Lance mused out loud, "...In the shower? I mean, I guess if that's what you were into and it would be efficient...so probably? I don't know though, it feels kind of sudden to be thinking about kinks already."

This time it was Keith's turn to blush from head to toe at his blunt words and Lance's equally as blunt response.

When the Altean looked over to look at Keith's face, he was instead greeted with the sight of a still completely nude Keith as he toweled the water from his long hair, his face completely hidden away.

While his brain short circuited at the sight of just how sinfully well built the Prince was, the hard, defined muscle littered with scars that made him want to reach out to trace along the hardened ridges and valleys setting him apart from everyone else, especially the other royalty he'd come in contact with. This man was used to combat and Lance was willing to bet Keith was very good at it.

"I wouldn't know what I'm into but if you're offering to help me figure it out, who am I to refuse a helping hand?" Though the prince's words were confident and playful, he refused to move the towel from his face for fear of Lance seeing the dark shade of red that surely covered it.

"I- Um, well- The thing- You know what? Fine. Fine. If you remember all of this tomorrow, we can circle back to it but for now please, just put some pants on. I am not dealing with the aftermath if you wake up next to me without pants on." His facial expression and tone were his attempt at casual and cool but on the inside, he was pretty sure all mental facilities were misfiring as he exited the bathroom and immediately flopped backwards onto his mattress to get lost in the sea of pillows, his arm thrown casually over his eyes as the last dregs of his energy started fading from the unanticipated events of the day.

He vaguely remembered feeling the thick cushion beside him dip before one of his softest blankets was draped over him and Keith's heat encompassed his body. Sleep came shortly after he felt warm breath ruffle his hair.

XxXxXxXxX

Keith woke up with a pounding headache and his entire right arm was completely numb but it was worth it to wake up next to someone like Lance. Before he laid down, he made sure put a blanket over the Altean's lithe form before finding the biggest one he could to pull over them both. He spent the next ten minutes in awe at how much the captain readjusted in his sleep as his nose twitched until he got comfortable which apparently meant Keith was to be used as a teddy bear. The last time he could remember sharing a bed with another living thing was when he and Shiro were kids. It was only a fleeting memory and there was _much_ less spooning involved. They still had Lance's blanket between their bodies but at some point in the night the Altean backed his butt up to the nook of his hips and claimed his arm for a pillow which put Keith's face right at the nape of Lance's neck to run the end of his nose along the smooth tanned skin. The slow, lazy smile that pulled his lips felt like the first real smile he's had for phoebs and it set his mind at ease for the time.

"...mmmKeiththattickles…" was the still fast asleep brunettes attempt at scolding despite his shoulders shaking with involuntary giggles as he pushed back into the hard planes of warmth behind him, his cheek rubbing against Keith's bicep in a purely affectionate show before settling back into sleep.

Before he could fully relax again, an electric bolt shot up from the back of his arm where the tips of Keith's fingers ran up and down bronzed skin lazily. The featherlight touch drove his hypersensitive nerves to the point of twitching.

Without putting much thought into his actions, Lance flipped himself over and glared into deep pools of shining purple before grabbing the offending hand and trapping it in both of his like a teddy bear and cuddling into his chest, his voice a serious sleep-mumble in the thin fabric of his shirt, "I get five more minutes and you are going to deal with that however you need to without moving from this spot."

Keith didn't need to answer as he listened to his breathing even out once again, his right arm curling up around the Altean as he flexed his fingers to try and work some blood flow back into them so he could feel Lance's curls.

Lance managed to squeeze another ten minutes of sleep out before Pidge's voice was blaring through the comm system, "Attention crew of the big beautiful Blue, due to our captain's utter lack of control, I'll be the disembodied voice you wake up to today. Congrats maggots! Now get up and get moving, we have two vargas until we reach our first stop of the day which means GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED, LOVER BOY. WE HAVE SHIT TO DO."

Lance let out an unbidden groan before stretching his arms high above his head and arching his back, pulling up the hem of his tank top up enough to give Keith an eyeful of his abs and tease at the beginnings of the well-defined 'v' leading to his groin. "Stars do I hate when she gets a hold of the intercom. She's like a death harpy crossed paths with a banshee and had an angry, angry lovechild."

"Sounds like you could have stopped that from happening." The tone of his own husky, sleep-ridden voice was far more gentle than he was used to hearing sound from between his own lips as an impish smile spread across Lance's face.

He spoke casually as one of his hands raised to move some of the mussed raven hair back over his shoulder, "Easily. _My_ comm is right there." Motioning lazily in the vague direction of an impressive desk taking up most of one of the corners, he continued with a cat-like grin, "But I lack the proper motivation to get up so I won't."

Turning his head to raise a brow at this Altean already half asleep in his arms at both his nonchalance with their current situation and his laziness, his voice gained an unwanted edge, "Aren't you going to help?"

Lance put his hand to chin but kept his eyes closed while he pretended to really think about the accusatory question. After what seemed like far too long to Keith, he spoke in a calm, decisive manner as one of his hands scratched at his stomach, "Nope. I don't need to."

Sensing the way Keith physically bristled at his words, he clarified in hopes of keeping them in bed for longer. "I mean I literally don't _need_ to help. This ship could run itself if Pidge or I wanted it to but my crew needs to earn their cut or the whole system would crumble."

"So you have time…?"

Lance laughed openly at the tentative and _adorable_ question before turning to his side to face Keith and prop his head up in the palm of his hand. "I could make some for the right reasons."

The Galra was unable to keep his thoughts from becoming audible after Lance's flirtatious words. His complete lack of care and capability for small talk coupled with his overwhelming need to _know_ took hold as he spoke bluntly, his brain noticing the myriad of blues held in Lance's irises unconsciously, "I remember last night and I'd like to ask you something. I want you to be…", he paused only to make sure he picked the _right_ words, "...open-minded with me."

Tensing as the mostly innocent memories flashed behind his eyes, Lance grimaced before mumbling under his breath and dodging the intense gaze directed right at his soul, "You don't beat around the bush, do you, Mullet?"

The prince took a steadying deep breath before closing his eyes and just blurting out, borderline yelling at the anxious Altean, "I want you to come with me."

 _Not the way to go about that. Now he's never gonna consider it and he's probably freaked out that you just threatened him. He probably thinks you want to kidnap him-_

Thankfully, Keith's downward spiral was cut short by Lance's hesitant voice sounding quietly from where he was still not looking at him. "Come...with you? With you where, Keith?"

He was trying his best to convince Lance he wasn't a nutcase and that he could be trusted as he spoke evenly, though the excitement softened the edges of his tone, "I'll be meeting up with my brother and the fleet to finish a diplomatic mission to try and broker an alliance between our people and I- You wouldn't have to go home if you didn't want to. There are ways I could keep you safe without having to reveal who you are I just...I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to the way it was before- I refuse to go back to the way it was before and the only thing that's changed in my life is you."

Lance couldn't believe what he was hearing and almost immediately did the voices in the back of his mind start rationalizing all the different reasons Keith would actually want him to come with him and not a single one of them thought of the vague possibility that the Galra would actually like him.

That didn't mean that Lance didn't _hope_ it _might_ be because the Galra liked him.

Sitting up to be able to actually look at Keith and look into his eyes to make sure he was actually here and this was actually happening and he actually just heard what he thought he heard. "Just to clear things up, you, the Prince of the Galra Empire, want me, nobody from nowhere, to what? Accompany you while you go about your life? Like a pet? Or a secret scandalous mistress?"

Though there was no real indication that Lance was upset, Keith assumed the worst and sat up on his elbow to reach out to run his thumb along his cheekbones only to realize that that might be too sudden, too forward, despite the fact that his morning wood had been neatly nestled in Lance's ass just thirty minutes ago. "No! No, I mean, I want Shiro and the Blades to meet you. Thace will love you but you should probably avoid running into Kolivan without one of the other Blades with you. I don't want to put you in a cage or keep you somewhere you don't want to be, I just- I don't want to _not_ see you again."

"...huh..."

"Huh…? That's it?...You aren't- You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad? Confused definitely, but not mad. We've known each other for a very short amount of time and while I don't think that dictates the strength of a relationship, one day is a very short amount of time for you to be inviting me to go with you on a diplomatic mission. I like the part where you said you'll keep me safe though. It would be funny to watch you try to keep me from harm. I've been told I'm a sucker for pain."

Keith's voice was near silent as hands starting clenching and unclenching in an even rhythm from the foreign nature of the conversation but Lance could hear every emotion behind the softly spoken words, "I...have a hard time connecting with people. I'm too blunt and aggressive and the others don't like being around me but _everything_ is different with you."

Lance was fighting his basic instincts to just wrap him up in a hug the more his shoulders hunched. He knew this could play out _so_ many different ways, most of which ended well for him anyway but what he really wanted Keith to know is that he wasn't alone. Not in his title, not in his life and certainly not right now. It was time for the Altean to face what he had been running from. He had been having dreams of the night he left and _knew_ that this was going to be his chance to at least do it sort of on his terms. He didn't belong back then; always too loud, too brash, too optimistic. Allura's old tutors told him everyday just how much he didn't fit in and that no royal in their right mind would marry him, even for an alliance with the infamous King. While he could say with confidence that he still wasn't marriage material, he was willing to at least face what he's done for the sake of saving the Prince of the Galra empire. Stipulations will be had of course but this all somehow felt _right_.

With a renewed sense of purpose and a significant burst of assurance, Lance slid his arm around Keith's shoulders with a featherlight touch before giving him a tug to put his body flush with his side. His voice was light but the smile on his face was so bursting with genuine care that Keith honestly though he might melt from it. "So here's the proposal, yeah? I go with you only after the rest of my crew is safe. I know Pidge and Hunk won't want to leave Blue but everyone else should be set to settle. Most of them have been with me for a-"

Without any tell at all, the casual touch turned almost frenzied as the strength of the Prince's arms tightened around Lance's ribs. The Altean's shock quickly faded into proud satisfaction.

Realizing just what he'd done, deep purple eyes wide as saucers looked up as a faint blush crossed his cheeks to pull back, only to be caught in surprisingly strong arms. His voice was tinged with the obvious embarrassment he felt at having such a emotional gut reaction as he tried to avert his eyes and failed due to Lance's downright criminal way of always putting his face in front of his, "The fleet has plenty of places for anyone willing to do the work."

"I'm also not leaving Blue behind so you'll have to add a tagalong to the 'fleet'. She's fast, agile and can pack a punch so we won't be a problem in a fight. I think you're going to have problems with allowing an Altean, a Balmeran and whatever you want to classify Pidge as on your ship. You're still a prince and we are still pirates. I don't want to say I'm famous or anything but Blue _did_ do the Teixa run in fifteen vargas. I mean, we aren't 'criminals' but I've definitely stolen from you. Not you personally, but the Galra. You guys got a lot of stuff that you don't need."

Trying in vain to get loose from Lance's oh-so-casual deathhold, Keith's brows furrowed in frustration as he grit out, "You stole from the fleet?"

In a blatant show of strength, Lance lifted one hand to check the perfect blunt tips of his manicured nails and admonished, "Now, now, Prince Mullet, I stole from _Galrans_ , not soldiers. Although, now that I think about it, they were pretty far out from the usual hangouts for your boys."

That piqued the angry man's interest enough to stop his fight altogether. As his body went limp, his words came out brusque, "How far out were they?"

Sensing the drastic switch in mood, Lance pulled back enough to give him room without withdrawing his arms. He liked the way they felt around Keith and Keith didn't seem to mind. "We were out a good 60, maybe 70 jumps from where the bulk of you guys are. We saw a Galra ship heading for an asteroid with enough lights to make things look very suspicious. We landed and saw it was mostly storage; weapons, rations, uniforms. So we took some of the grub and the relief supplies that were there and left. Come to think of it, I never ran into a single soldier." Noticing the crease between his brows getting deeper and deeper, Lance switched gears as his head tilted, "I can take you there if you want. You'll have an easier time with the doors since you know, you're Galra and I'm not. Nox is but he usually doesn't leave the ship. He's an amazing organizer and he was born to keep my pockets sufficiently filled because I'm terrible with keeping track of what goes where when but that's not the point," shaking his head to get back on track, "the point was, I can take you to the asteroid of creep after I get my crew paid."

"You'd take me there?"

"Yep."

"But I'm the Prince."

"And I'm the Captain. I'm also a very good listener and I can lick both my elbows but that has nothing to do with investigating said asteroid of creep."

"What if something happens to me?"

Lance could hear in his voice that there was no real worry or concern from Keith himself. It was almost like a horrible regurgitation of what was surely ground into his head as a young boy, 'you're the future of the Empire. You must remain safe at all costs to improve the future of the Empire', which was surprisingly not unlike his own time with Altea's royal family. "Not to sound like an ass but like, _what if_ something happens to you? What if something happens to me? Or anyone? We do our best and leave no one behind. I can't promise you that nothing will happen but I can promise everyone on this ship will do their damnedest to make sure you make it back."

Taking a moment to mull over all the information and options suddenly available to him, it took a few doboshes to pull together enough resolve to decide today would be the day he did what he wanted. He could be away from the fleet for a few quintants longer and he wanted to see what life was like through the eyes of an Altean pirate.

XxXxXxXxX

"No."

"No? I haven't even said anything yet, how can you already say no?" Lance should have known Pidge would be onto him. They were already on their way to the Galra outpost he told Keith about and Hunk had already told him that he and Keith were absolutely not going back down there. Lance was hoping that Pidge's thirst for knowledge on Galra technology would be enough to at least get them on the asteroid seeing as how now that Keith was a willing participant and virtual skeleton key for the whole base but trying to convince her meant that she actually had to listen.

"Hunk already told me what you want to do." She and Lance were repairing what they could for Minnie from the minor bumps and bruises attained by Hunk's short stint behind the wheel and while she hadn't looked up from where she was double checking the lines, she knew Lance was giving her his best 'pirate captain face'. It amused her endlessly that he thought he had the temperment of a pirate while being as menacing as a mouse. They were more like Robin Hood and his band of very unorthodox thieves.

"Okay, okay...new plan: we all go down, full firepower, full armor, and we scope it out to make sure it's clear…. _and then_ Keith opens the base up and we get _all_ the loot. Not to mention all that sweet sweet Galra tech just waiting to be used."

Without waiting a beat or interrupting her work, she teased, "Ah, yes, Keith. What an interesting topic you've brought up all on your own. How are relations with the Prince going?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, he sulked lowly at being called out again by the younger, smaller human. "Relations with the Prince are just fine, thanks for asking."

"And I'm sure the Galra base has nothing to do with Keith…"

"No! I mean, yes, it does. He can get us into the good parts that have the good tech."

"We don't need the tech and we are really going out of our way to get there…"

"It's not that far out of the way."

At that, Pidge turned to face Lance fully, her face set in an unamused deadpan. "It's in the Ixlan Cluster. The Ixlan Cluster is the opposite direction as the Galra fleet."

Taken back by her mentioning the fleet, the Altean's head tilted in confusion. "You know where the fleet is?"

Pidge rolled her eyes before returning to her work. "Of course I do. It's massive and I pay attention to the comms."

Lance gave a noise of vague interest, one hand coming up to tap his chin before snapping out of it and putting both his hands on his hips. With a wide smile and a bright tone, he made his way away from Pidge to their little armory. "Well, you have a varga to figure out if you'll be joining the prince and I on our little excursion. We'll be in the armory if you change your mind."

Before she could voice her strong opposition to the plan, Lance was whistling as he made his way out of the helm and up to the armory.

She mumbled under her breath as she pushed the bridge of her glasses up with the back of her hand, "Should have known that idiot would try to impress Keith by doing something completely insane." While she was used to his flirtatious personality by now, Lance rarely held this much interest in anyone outside the crew and he never had people outside she and Hunk in his bedroom. Maybe it would be best to just see how the two play out for now and deal with the lineage problems later.

Meanwhile, Keith was already in the armory looking for something a little less flashy than his royal armor having found a few pieces that fit somewhat but not quite right for his liking. The smorgasbord of styles and sizes had him apprehensive at the origins of their apprehension but he found himself getting over it in favor of putting on something he felt a little less exposed in. A concept he found hilarious considering Lance had seen him naked already.

His ears twitched from the cheery sound of whistling approaching and felt his whole being shift a little with the hope that it would be Lance. That feeling was then followed by an almost nauseating joy that even if it wasn't, Lance agreed to come with him. He would be able to see Lance whenever he wanted.

As the whistling got closer, Keith leaned his back against the wall to watch the archway with his arms crossed over his chest. He had no idea what they would find at this secret base and for both the safety of his new makeshift team and his duty as a Blade, he would need to keep a level head and focus on leading them through this without incident. Lance's plan might have worked well enough for his satisfaction but Keith liked to be prepared.

Before Lance could take in the way the bottoms of his undersuit were just barely too small to fit over the galrans thighs or the fact that he was _only_ wearing those too small leggings, Keith launched into a militaristic briefing that pulled a dumbfounded expression from the Altean.

He checked over his shoulder then poked his head back out into the hall to see if maybe someone else was around to at least witness the prince's speech which sadly, he was the only victim of. Though he was throwing around phrases like 'stealth phase' and 'strike team' at him and the only thing Lance could focus on was the way Keith's ears adorably twitched along to add another means of expression to accompany the easy to read emotion behind his defined brows and hand motions, making the uncovered muscle of his arms flex and bulge in delightful ways.

Unfortunately for Lance, Keith was now staring at him with a slight pout to his lips and an expectant gleam in his eyes. He could feel it grow hotter and heavier the longer he stared back, face blank of any sign of intelligence as he hoped maybe Keith would just keep talking.

Crossing his arms over his chest out of irritation with the air-headed captain, Keith shook his head sending his hair fanning behind him before turning his back to Lance and attempting to find armor that was made for people with a build like his own. His voice held a commanding tone that Lance couldn't place just how it made him feel though the butterflies in his stomach begged to differ, "I only asked because you would know your team better than I would but it would make the most sense for Pidge to stay here and be our eyes, Hunk and a few others to handle starting the power relay from just outside the hanger bay and for you and I to head into the base. The security should be as simple as me unlocking the system for Pidge and then she can just shut it down from here. Depending on how long this outpost has been out here, we might have a few drones to deal with but they won't be difficult to take out."

Before Lance could redeem his earlier and continued distraction, Keith continued, his actions growing more rough and abrasive as he rummaged through yet another storage bin unsuccessfully, "Why is all your armor made for giants or midgets? Do you not steal armor from normal shaped people?"

Tilting his head to take in the taut muscle of the prince's backside, Lance answered casually in spite of the accusation of thievery, "I have armor that will fit you in my room," pointing in the vague direction of his armor stache," and none of that is stolen. Its scavenged. From bodies."

Keith halted his movements completely as a look of utter mortification took over his features, his voice a deathly calm as just his one eye peered over his shoulder at the Altean still ogling him despite the daggers he was shooting at him in his mind, "You took these off of dead bodies."

"Mhmm or they were given to us. It's really hit or miss honestly."

Again, the flippant tone and bored expression seemed to ruffle the Galrans feathers enough to have him spin and face Lance in a bold move that put their faces within six inches of the other; Keith giving Lance the stink eye while Lance gave Keith a languid, toothy smile before smirking. "I'm completely messing with you, dude. The stuff we keep is just hand-me-downs and things actually given to us by willing doners. There's not enough disinfectant in the universe to get me in some dead guys shorts." Lance nudged a totally done Keith's arm with his elbow as he laughed to himself, "Get it? Eh, necrophilia jokes aren't for everyone," before jamming his hands in the pockets of his pants and heading back down the hall, whistling away.

It wasn't until he heard a heavy sigh from behind him and felt the familiar soft touch of Keith's hand taking his and wrapping it around his scarred forearm in silence that he stopped his cheery tune in favor of tightening his grip around the handsome Galran and asking Keith if he had a preference for a view for his own room. Blue didn't have many rooms left to choose from but there were a handful that had views to die for and he wanted to make sure Keith was comfortable while he was here.

Not understanding why he needed to choose a different room, Keith voiced both his concern and confusion in one innocent string of thoughts. "Why can't I just stay in your room? I like your bed and I like sleeping there-..." Cutting himself off before he finished with ' _next to you_ ', he kept his face from flushing before finishing in what he thought was a solid cover, "but I can sleep wherever is easiest for you-"

"No!" Lance cleared his throat, his hand coming up to reinforce his false coughing before trying again a little less abrasive and loud while walking right next to Keith, "No, you can stay with me if you want to. The bed is plenty big for the two of us and I like the cuddle-time. Hunk's always falling asleep in the lounge and Pidge doesn't affection well. Or at all." Raising a brow with a sideways smile at the prince, he added shamelessly, "You, on the other hand, are an amazing cuddler. I've haven't slept that well in ages and it's all thanks to you."

Keith was having another critical meltdown in functionality as Lance rambled on about how nice it felt to sleep next to another living thing, how perfect and beefy his arms were without being too big and hurting his neck to make him uncomfortable, even how cute it was that his sharp teeth made little airy whistle sounds when he exhaled and his mouth was open just a little. It was one thing to think it and hope for the same in return but to have him just say it out loud directly to his face was almost too much. Like things were going too well and the other boot was about to drop.

"Except maybe this time we can actually be under the same blanket because I got tangled up in mine trying to roll around and get some cool air and I almost kicked the quiznack out of you in the middle of the night. I do not like being tangled or wrapped up. Really anything constricting is a no-go for me."

As if what he was saying was perfectly normal, Lance just continued all the way until they made it back to his bedroom completely ignorant of the other man's inner struggle and ultimate victory. Keith was thankful his input was required for the conversation to progress for a multitude of reasons but his favorite was as simple as he liked the way the Altean's voice lilted and dropped, always full of unrefined emotion. It was one of the things that set Lance a part from everyone else and he would happily take the embarrassment over loneliness any day.

* * *

~I hope it was up to par because I had so much fun with this and it's one of those things that I wasn't going to post but thought 'eh, wtf let's do it' XD

You'll have to let me know how you guys liked it! I'll probably add more if enough people want it because y'all fuel me. Thank you so so much for reading my brain trash!~


	2. Chapter 2: The Prince and his Pup

~ I had a burst of inspiration thanks to one Leo_Char on ao3 so I hope y'all like the continuation on what has to be hands down the most fun ship to write~

* * *

Lance expected pretty much every part of the plan up until this point to fail outright since that's been his experience with things remotely relating so far in life but he found himself finding Keith's total concentration and genius plan a very welcome change of pace from having to rely solely on his own ability to pull miracles out of ass and make up for his own shoddy plans. He would argue to the death it wasn't the case and his plans were just a little unorthodox but honestly, he just had an amazing set of reflexes that made up for any shortcomings or sudden bumps in the road. Of which, there were always many. They served a greater purpose he supposed considering he had kind of an impressive repertoire because of them.

They had landed on the asteroid without problem, got the relays up and working without problem and he and his roguish prince were currently making their way down uncomfortably uniform hallways that literally all looked the same to Lance towards what appeared to be the office of whoever was in charge of the long-since abandoned facility according to Keith and his navigator extraordinaire. Pidge was having the time of her life with the free access she had to what looked like one of temporary bases to an outlying band of Galra militants more than a little pissed off about the attempts to bridge the gaps between the Altean people and the Galra Empire. The idiots had tried to put a half-decent encryption on their security but a total wipe would have been way more intelligent. You can't get a hold of information that doesn't exist but their idiocy was her entertainment and Keith's benefit. He could happily go back to the fleet knowing he wasn't empty handed. With an actual lead on the problem group none of the other Blades had been to make any progress on at all, he might actually come back to the fleet and get a pat on the back. Haggar and her band of Druids had been slipping between the cracks for years and the boisterous kind-hearted pirate happened to stumble on a key part in that, even if it was just a temporary hideout. It was more than anyone else had ever been able to secure. Keith's mind was focused on the task at hand as the Altean's wide eyes wrinkled with every absent observation he made into a terrible pun to pull the corner of his partner's stern lip up in the barest hint of a smile.

The nearly perfect fit of a beautiful set of black and red Altean armor hugging the curves and lines of the Galran's tight body was a surprise to both boys seeing how Lance thought the boots might be a weird fit for him and Keith was more than a little interested in what the lithe Altean looked like when he fit into the armor. His muscle tone and bulk fit perfectly under the expertly made pieces but the Lance currently crouched next to him fiddling with the shoulder joint of his left arm was far too toned to have had it fit him right now. He didn't know what to do about the way his stomach actually flipped at the mental image of the Altean Prince in this particular set of dark armor. Then it flipped back at the thought of a jacked Lance out of said armor. There wasn't any way for him to suppress the dry swallow or his attraction to every inch of Lance's capable willowy frame.

The prince on Keith's mind noticed the sudden tension in his body and placed his hand on the thick alloy of black shoulder pauldrons, his voice a soft whisper of concern as bright eyes scanned around them for danger. "Everything peachy keen, mullet?"

The weight on his shoulder pulled him from his devious thoughts with a raging blush before giving a force grunt of acknowledgment and standing to move down yet another hallway in a series of hallways that Lance was absolutely positive was actually a part of a massive maze system like the Labrynthiam on the moon they had just left. He hated mazes. The Altean was navigationally challenged and often mixed up left and right. In his defense, there was no difference between his left and right side. He had learned from a young age that life was easier if you could swing with both hands and he learned the hard way, it was much easier to be able shoot with both hands. His own ambidextrous abilities were accidental at first but now they were built in. Second nature. It gave him the advantage he needed if something were to happen to his hand again. Either of them. Maybe he was just trying to make himself feel better about the fact that he's so bad at navigating, the pretty young man got so lost at the Space Mall, Pidge made an announcement for a lost child and then he proceeded to get lost on his way to the service desk. He had to ask a security guard for help.

Unsure of what to do with the odd exchange of non-words, the brunette just blew an errant curl out of face with an airy puff, his sudden hot breath fogging his own helmet for a flash before the scrubbers took care of it, and enjoyed the view of the unfairly good-looking Prince of the Galrans in one of his favorite sets of Altean armor. It was kind of a funny story how he happened to come across it. In a youthful act that started as morbid defiance morphed into an unwelcome trip down memory lane. Lance visited his own grave and found the set buried in his place. When he left at the age of 16, he had a penchant for taking his free time in the form of swimming the tumultuous waters of Altea, spending hours in the soothing water at a time. The only real escape he ever had was when he sat crossed legged under the waves with a rock heavy enough to weigh him down and keep him down. In those days, he had a lot more muscle mass and apparently it just happened to work in Keith's advantage. He was waiting to see if the opportunity would rise for him to circle back to the whole 'you're wearing a dead man's pants' conversation from earlier. The testy Galran was adorable when he was angry and Lance loved some good irony.

When they finally managed to come up on what looked to be a control room of some sort, Keith pulled the borrowed helmet off his head, his raven braid falling down his back as his ears twitched with the freedom of being unrestrained. Lance was trying to choke down the sudden reappearance of his own sexuality as he watched the man do his best impression of one of those slow motion shampoo commercials with those girls with flawless long hair. He had never had quite this strong of a reaction to any of them though. He was starting to worry that he should have worn the roomier set of armor instead of the perfectly fitting set he was currently wearing at Hunk's insistence since technically it _was_ the better of the two. The white and blue Altean armor was his most recent purchase from their latest trip to Altea and when he had it made, he definitely hadn't made a request for a roomier crotch for unexpected hard-ons in battle. He laughed to himself darkly as he tried in utter vain to ease the growing pain of his hard member trapped in unforgiving alloy and Keith saw the tightness in his expression but not anything below the Alteans chest thanks to the tall sets of controls scattered throughout the room to cock a curious brow at him in question.

His face was taut with worry for a moment before he saw the receding pink on his cheeks stand stark against his marks. The handsome bastard just gave him a slow curling smile before asking in an teasing tone that only served to exacerbate his growing list of problems. His dick at the forefront and top of that list. "Everything 'peachy keen', captain?"

"Shut up. Shut your face right now." It was not a proud moment for Lance as he turned into a ball of embarrassment and haughty sass having been caught. What he wanted was to jump through the glass windows at the front of the room the instant he saw the beginnings of a head tilt start from Keith's raven head of hair as he poked further fun at his flushed companion.

"I thought you liked my face?" The innocent tone at complete odds with the devious grin curling his lips and exposing the glint of his elongated canines to pull an actual whimper from between parted Altean lips. One quiet enough that Keith didn't hear it but he saw the way Lance's lips split. The way his tongue darted out to trace along his plump bottom lip. Keith found himself more inclined to play with the reactive man than the work at hand now that Pidge had confirmed without a doubt that Haggar had been here as he walked in front of the main control desk he was just behind to lean back against it with his thick arms over his chest. One foot lifted to give his hips a tilt opposite his head with a smug feline look of anticipation on his face.

Lance opened his mouth twice to start two separate thoughts with his finger out and gesturing uselessly before he finally snapped out, his arms crossed over his own chest as if they could protect him from the Galra's predatory gaze. "Just because I like your face doesn't mean there aren't times I wish it would shut." He seemed to take a second to glare into the deep purple eyes fixed on his without reservations before Lance's brows twisted in confusion as he went over his words in his head too many times for him to actually try and understand since they all seemed foreign at the repeated mental use of them. "Did that make sense? It feels like it did but usually when that happens, I am very wrong."

A raspy chuckle dripped like the smoothest nunvill from Keith's mouth and Lance felt the whole room shift around him before the problem in his pants grew nearly unbearable to the point of actual pain since like the rest of his body, the skin covering his dick was extremely sensitive. "I don't really think it matters."

"Yeah?" He could tell he was squirming but there wasn't much he could do otherwise as the Altean tried to keep the strain from his easy-going voice.

Sensing something was wrong, Keith's head tilted once again out of concern as he tried to catch Lance's eyes with his own from around the desk all the while Lance tried to casually back away from the raven haired man. "What's going on?" Stopping as soon as he saw the way Lance was flushing beneath his helmet, his eyes narrowed in accusatory manner. "Why're you acting so weird?" It wasn't like the arrogant pirate to back down. Or stop talking.

A squeak left the brunette before his hand went to back of his helmet to rub the smooth material nervously even though the action was ultimately pointless. "Nothing! Ah," he cleared his throat unconvincingly, "nothing at all. Just dealing with regular problems over here." He pulled at the front collar of his chest armor uselessly as his eyes darted upwards and sideways. Anywhere Keith's weren't. "Is it hot in here? I think I'm gonna gooo," throwing a thumb backwards over his shoulder towards what appeared to be a storage closet to Keith, "get out- get out of this room. Here. Cause it's so hot." Backing away until his back thumped into the door of wherever the quiznack he pointed, he opened it and walked in to shut the door behind him.

Keith resumed leaning on the control desks to see how long it would take the idiot to come out of the closet he retreated into. Pulling his shortened blade from his hip, he started flipping the sharp weapon in his hand with the practiced ease of man trained in all sorts of knives and swords. He was an easily bored child with a fascination with the mechanics of combat since there was only do or die when it came own to it.

Inside the little broom closet filled with boxes of tissues and cleaning supplies, Lance wanted die right there. Now he was literally hiding in the closet to get away from the fact that Keith managed to get him hot and bothered without trying. He was hiding in the closet to get away from the man that gave him a boner in the middle of a strange base that held that empty dry smell of abandonment and stagnant air. He wondered how long it would take for Keith to just leave him in here and continue with his Marmora stealthy self.

They both waited a grand and lengthy two doboshes before Lance couldn't take the tight space any longer and he burst out of the damn death trap with his helmet under his arm and his hand on his chest. He may or may not have pushed his fear of constraint too far and as a result of his own crippling embarrassment, may or may not be experiencing a mild panic attack.

Having never experienced what anyone looked like during a panic attack Keith didn't know what was exactly happening but he knew he needed to calm Lance down. His eyes scanned over the dark of the little closet for any outside threats before remembering his offhand comment this morning about being restrained and fought the wave of anger at the Altean for willingly going in the tiny room if he knew it wouldn't be anything but terrible for him. Instead, he reached a hand out to Lance for him to take if he wanted something to hold as he tried to keep his own voice from sounding too harsh. "What do you need from me? I'm sorry for whatever I said or did-" For what felt like the first time every time they seemed to touch, Lance took the offered hand and pressed it to his cheek as his breathing started hitting the point of hyperventilation. Unsure what to do next, his rough gloved thumb made an gentle pass over Lance's high cheekbones to earn a shuddering breath out from between Lance's lips as his wide eyes closed and he leaned further into the reassuring touch.

Having known the Altean for the short amount of time he had, he was scared he would ruin this or make it worse for Lance. But he also couldn't just stand here and not do anything.

Taking a bracing breath of his own, he pulled the head of curly brown hair into the crook of his neck as his other arm braced low on Lance's back. His fear was pulsing through his veins at the thought that this might be to much contact for him. Was this too constricting? Did this make it better?

All his worries stilled as he felt the soft length of thick eyelashes tickle the skin just behind his ear as an airy sigh hit his neck with the hot relief that he _was_ easing the pained look from his soft prince's beautiful face. They stayed like that until Lance's breathing was even and his grip on Keith's hip eased to have the brunette pull back with a look of mortification on his face.

Before he could start apologizing, Keith brushed one Lance's curls back off his forehead as he teased with a surprising amount of care in his deep voice. "You just ran into a broom closet to get away from me."

Unable to anything but agree, Lance's chin dipped as a nod. "I did."

Twisting the curl around his gloved hand with his eyes focused on the natural wave, Keith asked without pressure. "Why?"

"Mmm, right. Well you see- The thing about it iiis...that…" A deep intake of breath cut of his own sorry string of incomplete thoughts as his hand came up to block as much of his face as he could cover as he mumbled unintelligibly under his breath.

Just as Keith was about try and get the information out of him, the alarm system started blaring and Lance morphed into an entirely new person right in front of Keith's face. It was stunning and the raven-haired prince had to take the time to remember how to breathe properly. In and out. In. And out. Repeatedly.

Lance's doe eyes grew sharp with focus at the threat as he jammed his helmet back on, his voice stern and hard. Without hesitation. His hand moving to grab the custom rifle across his back and have it's weight settle comfortably in his grip. "Tell me what we got, Pidgey."

Pidge's voice was drawn as if she were still looking over the security systems to see if it was her own doing that set the proximity sensor off (she severely doubted that) or if they had an unexpected visitor. "I'm checking the cameras now...but the ping came from a storage warehouse on the east part of the base. I'll let you know when I get a visual."

"Hunk and the rest of the crew made it back to Blue safe and sound?"

"Yes, mamacita. All your chicks are safely in the nest."

He gave a nod of his head as if she could see him as he brushed her sarcasm off with ease. "Make sure they stay there, gremlin. We're heading down that way now."

By the time he finished the short back and forth, Keith had put his own helmet back on after coiling the length of hair back up and held a sparkle of something in his gaze as he looked over the taller boy. Lance wanted to ask what it meant but he was pretty sure the line of questioning wouldn't end well for him so the two made their way down the halls with Pidges directions and warning that whatever set the alarm off had disappeared completely.

In his youth that would have relaxed his ready position but after countless ambushes, Lance stayed alert as the two made their way through the final door separating them from the warehouse. Pushing further in, Keith had started to open his mouth about the fact that Pidge herself said nothing was in here when Lance took his helmet off and shut his eyes. Moments later, the alarm system went off again and a wide childish smile morphed the royal Altean's face as he practically threw his helmet across the room, the light material bouncing before rolling to a stop, and dropped into a dead sprint to a pile of storage boxes stacked to a height that was precariously close to becoming its own avalanche of painfully sharp edges.

Seeing his intention, Keith immediately moved to try and grab the idiot before he got himself killed. "Lance! Lance! You can't climb up there." His voice was the most hilarious combination of scolding whisper and concerned mothering. "You don't even know what's in those boxes. What if there are explosives in those. Or-or knives!"

A gleeful voice resounded with playful determination off every surface to cut the near blaring silence compared to the flash of sirens from just seconds before Lance had made it nearly halfway up the leaning tower of mystery packages. "But he'll get away if I don't!"

An incredulous bark later, "He? Who the quiznack is up there?" Before he knew it, a black and red helmet bounced next to Lance's white and blue one as he found himself following the idiot prince up the stack against his better judgement.

Pidge and Hunk were watching from Blue with bets on who would fall first as the rest of Lance's crew made their wagers. Most of them bet against their captain. He had a habit of falling off things. And tripping. And other general klutzy actions that ended in his own pain 83% of the time. She would know. She's ran the numbers herself.

By the time Keith had made it to the top, he finally could hear what heck Lance was saying as he babytalked to their disappearing intruder. "Hey there sweetheart," the back of his hand was held out and just as the Galra crested the final box, he saw the little pup staring them down with equal parts resignation as caution. "Don't worry, we aren't here to hurt you. Do you have a home? Have you been here all alone this whole time?"

Keith thought it amusing Lance was actually talking to the fluffy black and blue canine. Taking a closer look at the small predator, he took in the distinct markings along his thick black fur and couldn't help but compare the bright turquoise lining his eyes to Lance's own markings. They matched the little markings under Lances eyes perfectly. His voice was filled with his amusement as he laughed out, "You match." Bright blue eyes swam with confusion before Keith's brows lifted and his head nodded in the direction of the space wolf. "Your markings match his."

Touching his face absently, Lance's smile grew wide and happy with the simple observation. His voice reflected the look as his eyes went back to the slowly warming pup as he rested his chin on his folded forearms on the top box of the stack. "What are the odds of that."

When space pup finally decided to venture over, it was ambling and clumsy in ways that reminded Keith entirely too much like the walking hazard trembling with the overwhelming joy that the pup was coming towards them. Bright eyes looked between the two boys before jumping to sit on top of the box they were both resting on before he blinked from existence and reappeared halfway down the boxes, setting the alarm off again and forcing a tiny little 'awooo' sound from his tiny frame.

If either had their helmets on they would have heard Hunk and Pidge both yell their own 'dibs!' on the magic space wolf only to watch the glorious fall of a captain as he missed the ledge of a box thankfully near the bottom and slipped down the remaining few feet to land with a gasping ' _oomf_ ' before shooting Keith an immediate thumbs up to show he was still alive. His chest was tight from the fall but he managed to squeeze out an "I'm okay' before slumping down with his arms out to either side of his body.

Landing in a graceful crouch, the Galran royal stood straight to close the space and crouch next to the Altean on the balls of his feet, his arms resting on his knees before one hand reached out to give his chest a few encouraging pats. Both his face and tone were unreadable. "I give it a 7.5."

Blinking up at the dead serious man, Lance almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Did you just- just rate my fall, you furry asshole?"

A careless shrug prompted a crooked little smirk, one pearly fang flashing before another weight settled on his chest just as the alarms sounded again and without hesitation, space wolf let out another 'awoo' from his new perch on Lance's stomach and much to both pup's and Keith's surprise, Lance answered with a howl of his own. The tip of space wolf's tail started twitching just before Keith let out his own 'awooo' to set the fluffy tail swishing with a purpose.

This madness continued for ten minutes as they ran around the warehouse like a bunch of mental patients before Pidge's voice echoed from the comm system above. "Excuse me shoppers, I'd like to make the non-request that all children leave the base before we get angrier more murderous company. We've gotten all the information from the systems and I think you'll be interested in the shady shit that went down here, emo prince."

Remembering where they were with a shared look of doe eyed surprise, they both gathered their helmets absently before realizing they had grabbed the wrong helmets, exchanged them with blatant unnecessary contact on Lance's part to have a faint blush stain Keith's face and headed back to Blue with a whole shipload of fresh loot and a lead on the most wanted group of glorified heretics in the galaxy.

Space wolf followed at Keith's heels without hesitation and with a quick rub to his ears, the dark eyed prince set their brisk pace back to Lance's ship to meet up with the fleet. His veins buzzing with adrenaline at the prospect of being able to introduce the softly singing Altean beside him to his brother and the Blades. They were going to love him.

XxXxXxXxXxX

After sending Shiro a very concisely worded message to let him know that he would be arriving at the fleet in a few quintants in an Altean ship roughly the size of one their small command ships instead of the fighter he had stolen, Keith made the decision to spend the rest of the time traveling across space not being a prince in any capacity.

Space wolf and Fluff got along surprisingly well for two foreign species while Keith and Lance meandered back into his room, both working at loosening their armors as Lance asked question after question about Keith and his family before they were making their way down the hallway leading to Lance's room. "So how much older is your brother?" Before Keith could snap out what was about to be an unnecessarily biting retort stemming from the itchy feeling of jealousy below his skin, Lance's easy voice continued as he pushed through his door to make his way towards his bed, leaving a trail of armor behind him with every long stride of his curvy legs. "Allura is a few decophoebs older than you but I just want to make sure they aren't trying to force some old geezer onto my sister."

And easily as his jealousy came, it was gone. Replaced instead by the slow rumbling laughter at his particular word choice seeing as Shiro acted more like an old man than the dashing prince he was. Their father was more absent than not, forcing his older brother to take up the mantle of patronly responsibility but it suited Shiro just fine. He was meant to lead and teach the Galra to start a new era of tolerance and peace and who better to do that than someone with the patience of a saint. "He's a little older than Princess Allura."

With a curt nod of his head, he added as he pulled his chest piece over his head to strain his voice a little and Keith's breathing a lot. "Good. Good. Lura hates 'immature, pea-brained vessels of testosterone' so a little bit older is good."

Keith blinked at the harsh critique of their gender but resumed removing the borrowed armor with much more care than its actual owner was treating the white and blue set. "Shiro is the future of the Galra empire and Allura is the future of Altea and her people. I'm sure they'll get along just fine." He really didn't know how to bring up the topic that his older brother was only interested in the alliance for political reasons. Shiro wasn't taken in any way, shape of form with the female population in a sexual manner.

Turns out, he wouldn't have to.

"I hope your brother is cool with lifelong celibacy unless he wants to make his way through a lengthy sex change process."

The shock in Keith's voice wasn't surprising to Lance but the distinct edges of relief was more than enough to pull his trimmed brows together. "She's...She likes girls?"

"Yep. It made life in the castle fun for a little. All the girls fawning over me while the boys worshipped at Lura's feet." Mirth lit his vibrant eyes as he toed his boots off and flopped onto his back in the center of his bed. "She hated having to go to lunch after dinner after boring date with teenage boys." The dramatic way he drew out 'teenage boys' made it seem like they were the boogeymen of the universe.

There was comfortable silence between them as the Galra of the two finished stripping down to the black under suit while Lance lounged back in a deep navy suit of his own. Keith was too far into his own thoughts for his own good as he flopped down next to Lance on his stomach, using his arms as a pillow to take in the peaceful look on the other royal's uniquely entrancing face.

"You're staring, mullet." Drawling and languid, Lance's voice reminded Keith of gentle waves lapping at shore.

"No, I'm not."

Raising a brow as one eye opened to give him a knowing look, his lips set in a tight lipped smile. "I can feel your eyes. You aren't very subtle."

Another casual shrug lifted his broad shoulders as he answered earnestly. "I don't see the point in subtlety."

"Fair enough," was all he could chuckle out in response to the honest and simple admission that frankly suited the dark haired boy's whole demeanor.

Lance closed his eyes once more before growing antsy with his stillness and turning over to put his face alarmingly close to Keith's and eagerly asking in hushed tones, a faint flush to his cheeks. Keith didn't know if it was from embarrassment or excitement. "Are you gonna kiss me or what."

Blue eyes watched as predatory slits grew wide in the darkness of Keith's irises. He could see the thoughts behind them speeding through as he tried to figure out what his answer was going to be. Having not asked the question looking for an actual response, Lance was about to open his mouth to tease the poor guy in efforts to get that weirdly intense look off his face when Keith made it abundantly clear that his answer would be a firm yes in the form of taking the soft Altean lips for his own in a messy inexperienced kiss that nearly missed before Lance's brain finally caught onto the goings on happening to his face and guided the disaster of a liplock back to where it needed to be. His soft palms tracing up either side of Keith's throat to cup his jaw and pull him further into him. It took the other boy all of five seconds to realize he was no longer satisfied just with laying beside Lance. He pulled back with the intent on asking permission when the lithe tanned Altean took the time of their break to push his shoulder back while he moved to straddle Keith's hips to pull a low moan from between his sharp teeth. Guess that answered that question.

Breathless and maybe biting off more than he could chew, Lance asked for the both of them in a lilting tone that had Keith's back arching up into the warmth of Lance's pelvis, the feel of his growing erection grinding against Lance's was nearly enough to have him see white. "Is this okay? I don't want to make you uncomfortable, my shoulder was going numb and I'm kind of really turned on." His hot breath was everywhere at once as his little monologue continued, agile hands running shamelessly over the line of Keith's collarbone beneath the thin material between their skin. "That's what happened with the whole closet thing. That armor was not roomy enough to make that situation any kind of comfortable."

Keith's throat vibrated with his own rough laughter as his own calloused hands made it their personal mission to get both their shirts off. He was quite taken by way Lance felt sitting on his lap. Taken by the way his hands sent electric shivers over his skin. Taken by the easy way things seemed to click with this amazingly out there Altean boy. "That explains the cute blush then."

A single breathy laugh came from Lance's lips before he was pulling back with an unmistakable look of devious mischief that turned impish royalty back into the roguish pirate captain from their meeting with a wiggle of his brows and a bright smile. "Wanna see about that shower kink now?"

Yes. Yes he did. Without a doubt in his mind did he want to get into the shower with Lance. The brunette had an unfavorable advantage in seeing him naked and Keith wanted more than anything to see the rest of Lance's flawless bronze skin on display for him. He had been trying to make out what the complicated tattoo that stemmed from his left ribs up towards his left pec actually was. So he gave an eager nod of his head before smirking up at Lance with a sense dangerous sensuality that his partner took as a dark promise.

In a flash, Lance was shirtless and being thrown over a set of broad shoulders with a surprised gasp as Keith wasted little time carrying the giggling man to his bathroom, his hand massaging the firm muscle of the thigh beneath the most amazing ass he'd ever seen. Mind you Keith really hadn't seen or took notice of any other butts before now but he somehow got the impression that every part of Lance's body was sure to be the most amazing he'd ever seen.

"You _really_ don't beat around the bush, do you?" The lost prince's voice held the barest hints of his own husky arousal but was honestly more preoccupied by the fact that the surly grump of a Galra was actually extremely nice to be around. He loved the way his emotions were so raw and how his earnest laugh was rough around the edges. It washed over him like the waves of his precious ocean except he wouldn't mind drowning in the sound of Keith's voice.

"You offered."

"I did. I definitely did."

"Have you ever...done this before?"

A moment of innocence took over the younger boy as the casually posed question went in one ear and out the other. "Can't say I have. I used to take baths with Allura and Romelle when we were kids but this uh, feels a little different."

"That's not what I meant, Lance."

" _Oh_ ," realization washed over him just before the heat surge of his own misunderstanding followed directly after. "You mean- I mean- I'm a virgin, yeah."

The older had to give it to him. He managed to keep his voice relatively even through the little stutter session and it only fueled the fire of his own growing desire for the Altean. "Me too."

Lance's body went limp over his shoulder from uninhibited relief. "Oh thank the stars. I thought this was about to become another one of those horribly embarrassing moments in my life."

Having gotten into the bathroom successfully, strong arms lowered Lance back to the floor to make them as eye level as they were going to get. The two stared at each other ready for one of them to change their minds before Lance draped his arms around Keith's neck and lowered his body to appear shorter than his counterpart. He would never admit it out loud but the thoughtless action came across as another of those adorable things Lance just seemed to do without realizing. He had no idea what the unintentionally submissive move did to the more basic instincts of the Galra and he wasn't about to waste a prime opening to taste the Altean's mouth again.

When the two pulled apart, Lance turned to get the water set in a dreamy daze. The way his left hand stretched to adjust the knobs gave Keith a perfect view of the intricate flowering tattoo layered over one of the traditional royal seals of Altea. It was simple in a beautiful way that only added to Lance's overall appeal. He would have to remember to ask about it after he was done tracing over it with his tongue.

Perched the edge of his tub to get the temperature of the water just right, he certainly wasn't expecting to feel calloused hands run up either side of his unfortunately still covered legs. Turning to meet Keith's gaze, Lance really wasn't expecting to see Keith already kneeling between his open legs, a delicious smirk on his face.

A cautious tone lit his words as humor danced behind his bright blue eyes. "Whatcha doin, buddy?"

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Keith answered matter of factly. "I want to taste you."

"Oh. Well, by all means, uhm, continue," making an awkward if endearing 'go ahead' motion to match his awkward endearing blush. Keith had no problems heeding his shaky words.

There was a reason Lance hadn't actually been with anyone else before. His magic. It was an amazing gift according Alfor and Coran but it seemed to serve as a hindrance for most of his relationships seeing as most of the touches he's had left him bruised and uncomfortable in his own skin. That was when he was younger and didn't understand his own power but it didn't change his bodies reaction to most contact initiated by outside sources. He waited for the grimy unclean feeling to come but it never happened with Keith. Like all other things, this was natural with Keith. Pleasurable in ways he hadn't known before. It seems that would only grow in the time to come.

A trembling breath danced across his ribs before warm lips traced the outline of his own private memorial for his parents. The flower was the same as the one his mother had tattooed in the exact same spot as his own in her youth and the crest was his father's and his grandfather's familial shieldcrest before him. It gave him peace of mind to know he could have a slice of family with him at all times but that wasn't even remotely on his mind when Keith was working his way up towards the hard peaks of his nipples. His chest heaved when lips wrapped around the bud to tease the sensitive flesh between his teeth. Pulling back, his exhale cooled the hot skin in a sensual play to pull an honest to gods moan, loud and long, from Lance. When his blue eyes searched for Keith's, another gasp fell from his pretty swollen lips. The usually deep purple eyes had blown wide with his own reaction to their position and it made his cock twitch to see the danger flirting with his desire to give him a predatory glint in his eyes while his cheeks radiated the heat of his arousal.

Lance traced a line down Keith's chest to slip under his shirt and pull it off as he stood in front of his kneeling prince with a warm smile and his own impressive physique on full display, his pants having trouble keeping his throbbing member contained. The sight was one Keith hoped he never got used it because it was about to become his second favorite. Impatient fingers hooked under the waistband to tug at them, claws teasing the bronzed skin in nipping little jerks as Keith took to nibbling along the cut lines above his hip bones with every inch exposed to his greedy mouth.

"Keith…" His name was drawn in delicious notes before his hands grabbed the back of Lance's knees one at a time to help him out of his clothes before leaning back on the balls of his feet to take in the sight of the mouthy seafarer completely nude and exposed to him. A sight he knew would top the list of anything he'd seen so far in life.

It was better than he could have ever anticipated. Better yet, the gorgeous tanned man had shot him a cheeky wink before turning to step into the streams of steaming water coming from too many angles to give him an uninhibited and mouthwatering view of the most fuckable ass in the universe. At least to Keith it was. He swore he could feel his teeth ache from how hard he was clenching his jaw at how badly he wanted bite right at the defined curve just beside a sexy set of back dimples as the jeweled crown on top of a taut, incredibly well-built ass.

"You gonna get in, sugarpop?" The sweet melody to the dazed question was just to motivation he needed to strip out of his own bottoms and join the living music box for a mate he had.

Blinking down at the unsuspecting Altean bent to grab a discarded bottle that had fallen from the neatly organizing shelves in the large shower, Keith backpedaled his own thoughts to go over one word repeatedly. Mate. He had said mate. That was not a word he thought was ready to be attached to anyone in direct relation to Keith himself.

Lance, having accidentally dropped one of his empty shampoo bottles he kept forgetting to throw out, straightened with a dopey grin at a languid pace that drew a hungry growl from the Galran royalty. Looking back over his shoulder with heavy lidded eyes and a sultry little smile, he asked with false innocence that stirred more than just Keith's girthy length. "See something you like?" It furthered stoked the inner fire that were the carnal instincts every member of the Galran race had at their roots. They were well-known for being fierce, indomitable in battle and Lance would never admit this to anyone ever but he happened to have a curious inclination towards the purple skinned peoples so he knew they weren't particularly known for being gentle lovers. Which suited him just fine as long as it was Keith. Unfortunately for the well-informed brunette, Galra also have a very real ability to tie two beings together in a permanent bond only once in their lifetime through a series of repeated bites. Not that it would change anything for Lance since he wasn't a Galra but it wasn't something to be done lightly. Some of his people went their whole lives without even having the chance to try.

One clawed hand traced along the slope of Lance's neck to pull a contented sigh from his lips before the same hand wrapped around the back to tangle with the wet length of hair at its nape. Keith's voice held nothing but the impatient rasp of his arousal as his grip tightened just enough to have Lance expose his neck in a move that satisfied his instinctual need to dominate and the more prevalent desire to make this responsive perfect man weak from his efforts. He was relying on Lance's reactions and his own impulses to get them there. Right now, he had the fantastic urge, a nagging desire really, to hear Lance say his name again.

Without giving it another thought, he palmed Lance's member as he felt his braid grow heavy with water and he was rewarded with a keening groan. Lance was in the process of getting himself a handful of juicy Galra booty when Keith pulled that emboldened move. In turn, Lance's handful became an accidentally bruising grip that ended with his back slamming into the side of the shower as Keith's breathing picked up. One hand testing the grip around Lance's aching hard cock and the other in a fist on the other side of the Altean princes head to keep him from doing something he'd regret like hurt him. He thought he'd get to hear his personal siren's voice when he pressed Lance's legs apart with his own thick thigh to run easy strokes over his balls while his hand started pumping in earnest. The tip of his thumb passed over the leaking head with every downward stroke. While he was rewarded with another of the loud unbidden moans that came from deep within that had his own cock leaking pre-cum down the smooth skin of Lance's cut pelvis, it wasn't the reaction he was looking for.

Impatient and fighting his own gruff nature, Keith demanded what he wanted with a husked rasp over the pointed oversensitized tips of Lance's pierced ears. "Say my name."

"Bite me," was Lance's breathless attempt at sass while fighting his trembling legs to stay upright but the poor word choice was unfortunately the magic words to release a torrent of hormones that drove Keith's anatomy into overdrive and in a miraculous coming together of unintentional melding, sharp teeth sunk into the crook of bronzed skin of Lance's neck. The initial pain forced Keith's name to tear through Lance's throat but the immediate rush of electric hot pleasure that followed had the Altean using Keith's name as a prayer with each of his careful strokes. It wasn't long before the taller of the two clutched painful half moons into Keith's hip and back to match the height of the orgasm tearing him apart from the inside out.

And if that wasn't enough for Keith's ragged control over the situation, the brunette gently pushed at Keith's chest to force him back and watch as he got on his knees to take his member between his lips to lap at the throbbing sensitive head. Thankfully he hadn't taken his hand from the shower wall or he would have gone down right there. This position gave him a perfect view of the still bleeding perfect bite mark where the slope of Lance's neck and met collarbone. It pulled rumbling purrs from Keith which forced Lance's humming laughter to escape from around his length as he pulled it further into the moist heat of his ready mouth. Keith's own overstimulation wouldn't give him much time to enjoy the slow bobbing before he felt Lance swallow around him and his world crashed to a halt before exploding in vibrant colors that had his hand tangling in dark brown locks as Lance's name ripped through Keith's clenched jaw in a sexy growl that had Lance humming with satisfaction at the most intense moment of his climax to push his peak a step higher. Sensing the raven-haired man made of sex and muscle was about have a problem with his legs, one arm braced the powerful muscle of his ass while the other teased aimless patterns on the skin on the inside of his trembling thigh.

By the time he finally let the softening member fall from his mouth, they were both panting as cascades of water streamed over Keith's back and down Lance's chest as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back to let the water wash over his face.

He didn't get to stay that way for long before he felt a capable hand take his own to coax him up into an embrace that somehow made the Altean feel small and safe. The heat of Keith's body rivaled the heat of the shower and Lance found himself untangling the barely knotted braid hanging between defined shoulder blades to flirt at the small of a scarred lower back.

The rest of the shower was wordless but not uncomfortably so. In fact Keith was to preoccupied with the the graceful way Lance managed to move when no one but he was watching as the Altean murmured slow songs under his breath to match the subtle sway of his hips. Lance insisted on washing his hair for him, promising it would be _his_ pleasure to be able to do it for him and he wasn't lying. Lance was more than happy to get his hands on all that glorious hair. Manicured nails ran along his scalp to pull more throaty purrs from Keith and in a bold move as far as Galrans go, Lance stroked the soft purple fur of his ears in an absent gesture that had Keith leaning back into a lithe chest before turning his head to kiss the corner of his mouth with a lazy smile pulling at his lips.

When they got out, Lance toweled off as best he could before pulling on his robe and making his way to his vanity to start his nightly skincare routine while Keith was just as well taking his time drying the length of thick raven hair and watching the odd Altean uses bottle after bottle on his face and body. By the time that was all finished, Keith had wrapped his towel around his hips and had internally gone over what Shiro and Ulaz had told him about bonding with someone at least a dozen times through just to make sure he hadn't just trapped Lance into a something far more permanent and intimate than sex itself. He hadn't. But that didn't mean Lance didn't deserve to know what could happen if he chose that for them later.

As if Lance had telepathy as well as his whatever his magic actually was, his bored voice drew like silk from where he had leaned closer to the mirror to make sure he got all the remnants of his mask off his face and double check there wasn't any in his hairline. "Let's talk about the full set of chompers on display in my neck. Wanna tell me why it happened?" His casualness was forced but done impeccably so. He knew exactly what the bite meant. It was a sign of protection and possession. A claim and an offer. It meant a whole lot to a lot of Galra and he needed to know if this was one of those and not a mistake.

"You asked me to." Borderline standoff-ish, Lance missed the wince cross Keith's features at his inquiry.

Did he? He remembered the haze and how amazing Keith's rugged body felt pressed against him. Oh, yeah. There it was. The half-hearted 'bite me' against the shower wall. "Is...that the only reason you did it?" His heart was pounding beneath his ribs to the point Lance thought he might watch it burst out and sprint away right there.

"No."

This was a little like trying to convince a Javic to leave their skieet behind. Which was very difficult and required a lot charismatic cajoling since the Javic were a stubborn, taciturn race that really liked a good skieet. Rolling his eyes out of exasperation, the lost prince crossed his arms over his chest and faced the root of it head on.

Keith was having a hard time keeping a straight face with the thick band of rainbow fabric holding the mop of curly earthy locks back out of his face making him look ridiculous with the stern look currently fixed on it.

"Then why else did you do it?" Lance was adamant and getting testier by the moment.

Bare shoulders tensed before they lifted in a shrug, his voice even as his gaze locked in Lance's unabashedly. "I wanted to."

Giving a slow nod of his head, the brunette seemed content with the answer before narrowing his eyes at the other boy with a slight tilt to his head in silent self-contemplation, the inner train of his thoughts unknown to Keith, before giving a shrug of his own and turning back to the mirror to pull the wrap from his head and fix his hair back to something that sort of resembled a style other than really bad bedhead.

"Do...do you know what that means to my people?" A tentative cautious question rang through the bathroom.

"Yes." A simple no nonsense answer.

Regardless of the simplicity of this bizarre exchange, it still meant a lot to the young Galra prince. Even in a half-cocked moment of passion, Keith didn't regret it or want it gone. He rather liked the way it looked cleaned up and placed perfectly so it would be seen when the captain wore his regular clothes and his armor. "That's it?"

"That's it." Lance was either not understanding what Keith was getting at or genuinely and recklessly wanted Keith to bond with him.

Again, his simple no nonsense response had him reeling for a few ticks before his desire to give him space and respect his answers if they turned unfavorable was eclipsed by a greater need to see without a doubt if Lance knew what he was saying. He was taking his soft prince's smooth hand in his to wrap it around his forearm before Lance could have any of his objections he might have about the action land home to lead them both to his bed.

Letting Lance get comfortable in the spot next to him after releasing his hold and sitting down next to him, Keith leaned back on his palms, putting his scarred chest and abs on display as well as that simple little necklace that marked him royalty nestled between chiselled pecs before clearing his throat and nipping his own fear of rejection in the bud. His muscles were starting to tense and he didn't want ruin the night with his own unnecessary irritation. "I need to know you actually understand what a bond means to me."

The tanned man focused his attention on the ends of his nails to see if any needed any work as his voice drawled lazily. He picked up on his lover's mood and knew Keith wasn't searching for physical comfort or empty reassurances. "I'm a prospective mate choice, yeah? Probably the only one…," before his humor-lit eyes snapped to Keith's in a momentary jealous flashbang behind his narrowed baby blues. "I'm the only one, right?" His voice getting firm to make the repeated word sound less like a question and more like a demand. "Right."

A few strangled laughs escaped through a suppressed fanged smile before he was earnestly laughing to the point he needed to clutch his stomach and wipe at tears in the corner of his eyes. His voice filled with his own humor obvious in his whole personality flip as a result of the little exchange. "That is not what I was expecting and yes, Lance, you are the only one. I've never even had the passing urge to bite someone ever in my life."

"But you did with me." The way he said it made it sound like he was bragging about to Keith like that would somehow work to rile him up. It wasn't so much with his words but the shit-eating grin that split his face and the sideways way he was eying him up from his lazy position.

It did rile the fair skinned prince but that didn't mean Keith was about to give Lance the satisfaction of knowing that it had. "Yeah. I did. And I don't want it gone either." He also had no shame whatsoever in admitting the truth.

There were a few doboshes of tense silence before the softer of the two gave in and Lance crawled over to lay his head in Keith's lap, stopping before he did after realizing Keith still had his wet towel wrapped around his hips while he sat on his bed. "Do you want pants you animal? Honestly," the exasperation in his voice teasing as he gave Keith's bulky shoulder sharp pokes to get him to get off the sacred place with his damp butt before stealing the towel right off his hips with a rakish toothy smile. Watching the Galra move to cover himself as a blush spread from cheek to cheek in a comical show of bashfulness after the sexy shower show had Lance in absolute stitches.

Keith managed to keep it together for what felt like an eternity before he finally snapped out, huffy irritation prevalent throughout his words as his head turned away, one hand doing a poor job of covering himself as the other rubbed across the planes of his chest nervously. "Are you gonna get me something to wear or what?"

"Oooo, tough choice." The conniving shit gave him a schmoozey grin before walking out of the bedroom, towel slung over his robed shoulder, to throw said towel in the laundry with his own only to come back sans his robe and naked as the day he was born. Again, his voice was drawn and playful as he confidently sauntered back over to where Kether stood frozen beside his bed. "Now we're even, mullet." His hands coming out on either side of his hips with jazzy little wiggles to his fingers as if his toned swimmer's build needed anymore pomp than what its already got going for it to make it shine.

Noticing the distracted way Keith ate at the exposed curves of his body, Lance's smile warmed with earnest affection. "You are downright adorable for a ruthless member of the Galran race." Each word was an easy bounce back over to his stock still frame before the Altean laced his fingers with his and pulled him to the bed where Fluff and Space wolf had already cuddled up together at the bottom corner. He remembered thinking it might have been too big when he first got it but found it perfect for sharing with a grumpy Galra, a feathery soft space dragon and a teleporting space pup.

"And you are surprisingly annoying for a guy with the voice of an angel."

Taking it as a compliment, Lance gave the surly prince a wide smile and a wink from where he had taken it upon himself to pull Keith onto his chest after laying down on his back so the brunette could run his fingers through the piles of silky black hair. "Thank you so much, babe. That's the second nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Sleep was weighing heavy on the emotionally drained older man with each mindless stroke of Lance's hand and it seeped into his words while his hands searched for warm nooks to tuck themselves away into. "Only the second?"

Brushing the shorter black hair framing his face back, ocean eyes looked over the planes of Keith's face as his soothing voice hitched with soft laughter. "Yeah, I still like you telling me you like my face."

"Mmmm'strue."

"Go to sleep already you idiot." The affection was fighting the sleep from taking hold in Lances own voice but he only managed to last a few doboshes longer than his older counterpart before succumbing to the reassuring weight of Keith on his body.


End file.
